Income

Information regarding income was obtained from men and women aged 18 years and over in the 2021-22 PSS.

The income topic collected information about the sources and amounts of income for the respondent, their current partner (where applicable), and any other persons aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of the household. Income information for all members of the household was collected from the respondent, however the respondent had the option of choosing not to provide income information for themselves and/or other household members.

In the PSS, income data refers to gross income received at the time of survey i.e. the total amount earned from all income sources before taxes and other deductions.

This refers to the total gross personal weekly income that the respondent received from all income sources.

This refers to the total gross personal weekly income that the respondent’s current partner received from all income sources.

Total weekly couple income was calculated by summing the respondent’s and their current partner’s weekly income amounts.

As it is not possible to derive couple income without both contributing amounts, where either the respondent or their current partner’s income was not provided, the couple income was set to 'not known/not stated.'

Household income was calculated by summing income amounts provided for:

• the respondent
• the respondent’s current partner (where applicable)
• any other persons aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of the household.

As it is not possible to derive household income without all contributing amounts, where income information was not provided for one or more household members, the household income was set to ‘not known/not stated’

For lone person households, household income was identical to the personal income of the respondent.

Equivalence scales are used to adjust the actual incomes of households so that the relative well-being of households of differing sizes and compositions are able to be compared. For example, it would be expected that a two-person household would usually need more income than a lone person household, if the two households are to enjoy the same standard of living.

Equivalised income was calculated by deriving an equivalence factor according to the chosen equivalence scale, and then dividing income by the factor. The equivalence factor, derived using the 'modified OECD' equivalence scale, is determined by allocating the following points to each person in a household:

• the first adult in the household is given a weight of 1 point
• each additional person aged 15 years or older is allocated 0.5 points
• each child aged 0-14 years is allocated 0.3 points.

Equivalised household income was derived by dividing the total household income by a factor equal to the sum of the equivalence points allocated to the household members. The equivalised income of a lone person household is the same as its actual income. The equivalised income of a household comprising more than one person lies between the total value and the per capita value of its actual income.

When actual household income is negative, such as when a loss is reported for an individual's unincorporated business or other investment income, and this loss is greater than the positive income from other sources, then equivalised household income is set to 0.

Income deciles are groupings that result from ranking all persons/households in the population from lowest to highest income, and then dividing the population into 10 equal groups, each comprising 10% of the total population. The lowest decile contains the bottom 10% of income earners, the second decile contains the next 10%, and so on, with the highest decile containing the top 10% of income earners.

In the 2021-22 PSS, income deciles were calculated on the weighted population and are output for:

• personal/current partner gross weekly income
• couple gross weekly income
• household gross weekly income
• equivalised household gross weekly income.

For current partner income, the decile groupings calculated using respondent income (personal gross weekly income) were applied.

Income which is not known or not stated is excluded from the calculation of deciles. In addition, persons who are not in a couple relationship (i.e. not living with a partner) are excluded from the calculation of the couple income deciles.

The dollar amounts contained in each decile are shown in the following table:

Respondents were first asked to identify all their sources of income from the following broad response categories:

• wages and salaries (including from own incorporated business)
• any government pension, benefit or allowance
• superannuation, an annuity or private pension
• profit or loss from own unincorporated business or share in a partnership
• profit or loss from rental investment property
• any other regular sources (such as interest, dividends, scholarships, silent partnerships, child support, workers’ compensation).

If respondents received a government pension, benefit, or allowance, they were provided with two lists from which to select the type(s) they received. These lists have not been produced for output.

The first list contained the following payment types for which only one type (or none) could be selected:

• Australian Age Pension
• Service Pension from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Excluding Defence Force superannuation benefits
• Disability Support Pension from Centrelink
• JobSeeker Payment
• Paid Parental Leave
• Carer Payment
• Partner Allowance
• Widow Allowance from Centrelink
• Sickness Allowance
• Special benefit.

Respondents were able to select more than one type (or none) from the second list containing:

• Family Tax Benefit as a regular payment from Centrelink
• Parenting Payment
• Youth Allowance
• Carer Allowance
• War Widow's or Widower's Pension from the Department of Veterans' Affairs, including Income Support Supplement
• Disability Pension from the Department of Veterans' Affairs
• Austudy/ABSTUDY
• Overseas government pension
• any other government payment.

For each individual broad source of income (noting that government pension is split into two broad groups), respondents were asked to provide the amount of income received (in single dollars) as well as the period the reported income covered.

Where a respondent indicated that they earned income from any of the following two sources, they were asked to specify whether the income was a profit or loss:

• unincorporated business income
• rental income.

This resulted in both positive and negative income amounts being represented in the data. Negative income occurs if losses from these two sources are greater than any income, benefits or allowances received from other sources. The option of choosing “neither” profit or loss was available for respondents who earned zero income from the income source.

Personal income questions could be skipped if respondents were unable or unwilling to provide details of sources of income or specific income amounts. However, to reduce the amount of missing income information, the following occurred:

• For respondents unable or unwilling to provide details of the source(s) of income they received, they were asked whether they could provide the combined total income from all sources (in single dollars or, if not, select from a list of ranged income amounts).
• For respondents who identified the source(s) of income they received but were unable or unwilling to provide single dollar income details for an individual source of income, they were asked whether they could select from a list of ranged income amounts.

For respondents who selected a ranged income category a specific amount was allocated for the relevant source’s continuous income item (or total income item where no source was identified). This amount was determined by calculating the median of the range using data from respondents who provided a specific amount within that range. If no-one provided a specific income amount within the range then the middle of the range was used.

Respondents who continued not to disclose their personal income information were coded to the ‘personal income not known/not stated’ category.

Where a respondent indicated that they received income from multiple sources and it was not possible to calculate the main source of income from the income amounts provided (e.g. one or more income amounts was not known or specified as a range), they were also asked to identify their main source of personal income.

Respondents who had a current partner living with them were asked to provide details of their partner’s income.  Interviewers were instructed that they and the respondent were not to obtain the current partner’s income information directly from the current partner. The information provided by the respondent was taken as the answer.

The respondent was first asked to provide all of their current partner’s sources of income. These broad sources were the same as those collected for the respondent’s personal income.

The total combined pre-tax income amount received from all sources was then collected in single dollar values (positive or negative), as well as the period the reported amount covered.

Partner income questions could be skipped if respondents were unable or unwilling to provide details of sources of income or the total income amount. However, to reduce the amount of missing income information, the following occurred:

• For respondents who were unable or unwilling to provide details of their partner’s source(s) of income, they were asked whether they could provide the combined total income from all sources (in single dollars or, if not, select from a list of ranged income amounts).
• For respondents who identified the source(s) of income their partner received but were unable or unwilling to provide the combined total income from all sources, they were asked whether they could select from a list of ranged income amounts.

For respondents who selected a ranged income category for their partner’s income, a specific amount was allocated to the total income item. This amount was determined by calculating the median of the range using data from respondents who provided a specific amount for their partners income within that range. If no-one provided a specific income amount within the range then the middle of the range was used.

Respondents who continued not to disclose their partner’s income information were coded to the ‘partner income not known/not stated’ category.

To produce data for sources of and total household income, respondents were also asked to provide combined income information for all of the other non-selected persons aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of the household.

The respondent was first asked to provide all of the sources of income for these remaining household members. These broad sources were the same as those collected for the respondent’s personal income.

They were then asked to provide the total combined pre-tax income (positive or negative) for these remaining household members, as well as the period the reported amount covered.

Household income questions could be skipped if respondents were unable or unwilling to provide details about the sources of income or the total income amount for other members of the household aged 15 years and over. However, to reduce the amount of missing income information, the following occurred:

• For respondents who were unable or unwilling to provide details about household members’ source(s) of income, they were asked whether they could provide the combined total income of all household members from all sources (in single dollars or, if not, select from a list of ranged income amounts).
• For respondents who identified the source(s) of income but were unable or unwilling to provide the combined total income of all household members from all sources (in single dollars), they were asked whether they could select from a list of ranged income amounts.

For respondents who selected a ranged income category for household members, a specific amount was allocated to the total income item. This amount was determined by calculating the median of the range using data from respondents who did provide a specific amount within that range for other household members. If no-one provided a specific income amount within the range then the middle of the range was used.

Respondents who continued not to disclose the total income of other members of their household were coded to the ‘household income not known/not stated’ category.

If it was not possible to determine the main source of household income using information collected from the personal income, partner income and household income topics, the respondent was asked identify the main source of income for the entire household, considering their own income and the income of all other household members.

The data items and related output categories for personal (respondent) and current partner income are contained within the SPS Level – Income tab, and for household income within the Household level tab, in the data item list available under Downloads.

Data for this topic was collected to examine the relationship between income and experiences of violence.

Data items from this topic should not be used on their own to produce general population estimates of income. The Census and the Survey of Income and Housing are more appropriate sources of this data.

Points to be considered when using and interpreting data from this topic include the following:

• Details about the income of other household members, including a current partner, are collected via the respondent. Therefore, the information was based on the knowledge the respondent had of other household members’ income.
• Responses were based on the current income of the respondent at the time of interview, and may not be reflective of their income at the time they experienced violence. It is recommended that these data items are used only when examining recent experiences of violence (i.e. in the previous 12 or 24 months), as characteristics are more likely to have changed over longer timeframes.
• Measures of income do not necessarily provide the whole story about people’s capacity to maintain living standards and meet household needs. As such, it may be useful to analyse income data in combination with the financial stress data items, which asked whether the household was able to raise emergency money in a time of crisis, and whether the household experienced any selected cash flow problems in the previous 12 months.
• In cases where income information was not provided for the respondent, current partner, or other persons aged 15 years and over who were usual residents of the household, responses were coded as ‘not known/not stated’.

Income data items are comparable across all PSS cycles, but not with the 1996 Women’s Safety Survey (WSS).

However, the following should be taken into consideration when comparing across cycles:

• In 2021-22, measures were taken (such as giving respondents the option of selecting an income range if they were unable or unwilling to provide an income amount in single dollar values) to reduce the number of ‘not stated’ responses. The 2021-22 survey also collected individual amounts for each source of income separately, as part of producing the total income values for personal income. Neither of these measures were undertaken in previous cycles.
• There have been minor changes to the data item category labels for sources of income in the 2021-22 PSS, summarised in the table below. However, these do not affect comparability between 2021-22 and previous PSS cycles due to the concepts and collection category labels being the same.