6150.0 - Australian Labour Account: Concepts, Sources and Methods, Oct 2019  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/11/2019   
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Australian Labour Account framework

The Australian Labour Account framework has been designed to conceptually align with the accounting conventions of the United Nations System of National Accounts (2008 SNA), as applied in the Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA). In particular, the Australian Labour Account aligns with production and residency boundaries of the ASNA. This ensures direct compatibility with national accounts and productivity estimates, as well as providing a mechanism for bringing together conceptually related aggregate data from business, household and administrative sources.

The Australian Labour Account framework incorporates four distinct quadrants: Jobs, Persons, Labour Volume and Labour Payments. The framework covers all types of employment including employees, self-employed and contributing family workers. A visualisation of the framework is in Appendix 1.

The four quadrants are linked by a set of identity relationships, which the aggregate statistics must satisfy. These identities are shown in Figure 3.1 below. The identities used in the Australian Labour Account are consistent with the identities used in other countries. Some relationships are direct, such as employed persons in the total economy is equal to the number of main jobs, while other relationships are considered indirect or derived, such that the relationship is based on an average or ratio measure such as average hours worked per job, or average labour income per employed person.

Figure 3.1: Australian Labour Account identity relationships – Jobs, Persons, Volume and Payments

Graphic: Australian Labour Account Identity Relationships

Labour supply and labour demand

The supply of labour relates to the quantum of labour services offered by people (i.e. the number of hours actually worked by employed persons, plus the number of additional hours being sought by those who are either unemployed or underemployed). Household surveys are the primary source of data on the supply of labour, supplemented by related administrative data.

Labour demand relates to the quantum of labour services sought by companies and other institutional units engaged in economic activity, within the scope of the 2008 SNA production boundary. It includes the numbers of hours actually paid for in filled jobs, plus the unmet labour demand by employing units measured through vacant jobs. Surveys of businesses, government and not-for-profit institutions and relevant administrative data sets are the main sources of information on labour demand.

Australian Labour Account outputs

Outputs from the Australian Labour Account consist of a number of spreadsheets and data sets, produced for both quarterly and annual data. Data are also produced for both balanced and unbalanced estimates in the Australian Labour Account.

In general, quarterly data are produced at the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) division level, while annual data are available at the ANZSIC subdivision level.

Revisions to both original and seasonally adjusted quarterly Australian Labour Account data are also published.

Balanced data outputs

Data are presented quarterly for the four quadrants of the Australian Labour Account for balanced data for original, seasonally adjusted and trend estimates. Similar data are presented in original terms only for annual outputs. The general structure for balanced data outputs is detailed below.

Derived values


Average income per Labour Account employed person ($)
Average hourly income per Labour Account employed person ($)
Average labour cost per job ($)
Average labour cost per hour worked ($)
Average labour cost per hour paid ($)
Average hours actually worked per job (Hours)
Average hours actually worked per Labour Account employed person (Hours)
Average weekly hours actually worked per Labour Account employed person (Hours)

Jobs quadrant

Total jobs ('000)
Job vacancies ('000)
Proportion of vacant jobs (%)
Filled jobs ('000)
Labour Account main jobs ('000)
Labour Account secondary jobs ('000)
Proportion of secondary jobs (%)
Filled jobs private sector ('000)
Filled jobs public sector ('000)

Persons quadrant

Labour Account labour force total ('000)
Labour Account employed persons ('000)
Labour Account main job holders ('000)
Labour Account multiple job holders ('000)
Ratio of multiple job holders (proportion of main job holders) (%)
Rate of multiple job holding (proportion of employed persons) (%)
Labour Force Survey unemployed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey underutilised persons('000)
Labour Force Survey underemployed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey not in the labour force ('000) (Total all industries only)

Labour Volume quadrant

Labour Account hours actually worked in all jobs ('000 Hours)
Labour Account hours paid for ('000 Hours)
Labour Account ordinary hours ('000 Hours) (Total all industries only)
Labour Account overtime hours ('000 Hours) (Total all industries only)
Residual ('000 Hours) (annual data only)
Residual as a % of Labour Account hours actually worked (%) (annual data only)
Available hours of labour supply ('000 Hours)
Hours sought but not worked ('000 Hours)

Labour Payments quadrant

Total labour costs ($ Millions)
Compensation of employees ($ Millions)
Other related costs to employers ($ Millions)
Labour income from self-employment ($ Millions)
Total labour income ($ Millions)

Unbalanced data outputs

Data are presented quarterly for the four quadrants of the Australian Labour Account for unbalanced data in original terms only. Similar data are presented in annual outputs. The general structure for unbalanced data outputs is detailed below.

Derived values

Average income per Labour Account employed person ($)
Average hourly income per Labour Account employed person ($)
Average labour cost per job ($)
Average labour cost per hour worked ($)
Average labour cost per hour paid ($)
Average hours actually worked per job (Hours)
Average hours actually worked per Labour Account employed person (Hours)
Average weekly hours actually worked per Labour Account employed person (Hours)

Jobs quadrant

Total jobs ('000)
Job vacancies ('000)
Filled jobs (business sources)r ('000)
Business survey filled jobs ('000)
Adjustments to business survey filled jobs ('000)
Filled jobs (household sources)l ('000)
Labour Force Survey main job ('000)
Labour Force Survey secondary job ('000)
Adjustments to household survey filled jobs ('000)
Statistical discrepancy ('000)
Statistical discrepancy as a % of filled jobs (household sources) (%)

Persons quadrant

Labour Account labour force total ('000)
Labour Account employed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey employed persons ('000)
Adjustments to employed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey unemployed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey underutilised persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey underemployed persons ('000)
Labour Force Survey not in the labour force ('000)

Labour Volume quadrant

Labour Account hours actually worked in all jobs ('000 Hours)
Hours actually worked in all jobs ('000 Hours)
Adjustments to hours actually worked in all jobs ('000 Hours)
Labour Account hours paid for ('000 Hours)
Labour Account ordinary hours ('000 Hours)
Labour Account overtime hours ('000 Hours)
Residual ('000 Hours)
Residual as a % of Labour Account hours actually worked (%)
Available Hours of labour supply ('000 Hours)
Hours sought but not worked ('000 Hours)
Hours sought by unemployed ('000 Hours)
Additional hours sought by underemployed '000 (Hours)

Labour Payments quadrant

Total labour costs ($ Millions)
Compensation of employees ($ Millions)
Other related costs to employers ($ Millions)
Employers' payroll taxes ($ Millions)
Recruitment services ($ Millions)
Training costs ($ Millions)
Employment subsidies ($ Millions)
Labour income from self-employment ($ Millions)
Total labour income ($ Millions)