4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/06/2001   
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Contents >> Work >> Definitions and references

Definitions and references

Average hours worked per week by full-time workers

    aggregated hours worked, including overtime, by full-time workers during the survey reference week divided by the number of full-time workers. The hours are those actually worked and are not necessarily the hours paid for.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Discouraged jobseekers
    persons who were marginally attached to the labour force, wanted to work and who were available to start work within four weeks but whose main reason for not actively seeking work was that they believed they would not find a job for any of the following reasons:
    • considered too old or too young by employers;
    • difficulties with language or ethnic background;
    • lacked necessary schooling, training, skills or experience;
    • no jobs in their locality or line of work; or
    • they considered that there were no jobs available at all.
    Reference: Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6220.0).

Employed
    persons aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week, worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission, payment in kind in a job or business or on a farm, or worked without pay in a family business, or who had a job but were not at work. Also includes employers, own account workers or contributing family workers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Employee
    a person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, a retainer fee by their employer while working on a commission basis, tips, piece rates or payment in kind, or a person who operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Employees without leave entitlements
    employees who were not entitled to either paid holiday leave or sick leave in their main job.
    Reference: Weekly Earnings of Employees, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6310.0). For data after 1998, Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6310.0).

Employer
    a person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Employment population ratio
    for any group, the number of employed persons expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over in the same group.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Unemployed looking for full-time work
    unemployed persons actively seeking full-time work, expressed as a proportion of the civilian population aged 15 years and over in the same group.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Full-time workers
    employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) and others who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Industrial dispute
    a withdrawal from work by a group of employees, or a refusal by an employer or a number of employers to permit some or all of their employees to work, each withdrawal or refusal being made in order to enforce or resist a demand, or to express a grievance.
    Reference: Industrial Disputes, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6321.0).

Job mobile
    Persons aged 15-69 years who either
    • change employer/business with or without a change in locality; or
    • change locality without a change of employer/business.
    Reference: Labour Mobility, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6209.0).

Labour force
    for any group, persons who were employed or unemployed, as defined.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Long-term unemployed
    persons unemployed for a period of 52 weeks or longer.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Manufacturing industries
    the manufacturing division of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0).
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Marginally attached
    persons aged 15-69 years who were not in the labour force, wanted to work and; were actively looking for work but were not available to start; or were not actively looking for work, but were available to start work or would have been if child care was available.
    Reference: Persons Not in the Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6220.0).

Median age
    the age at which half the population is older and half is younger.

Median duration of unemployment
    the duration which divides unemployed persons into two equal groups, one comprising persons whose duration of unemployment is above the median and the other, persons whose duration is below it.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Occupation
    a collection of jobs which are sufficiently similar in their main tasks to be grouped together for the purposes of classification. The Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) Second Edition, which is used for the classification of occupation, applies skill level and skill specialisation as major criteria.
    Skill level is measured by: formal education and training, and previous experience usually required for entry into an occupation. ASCO Second Edition assigns each of the nine major groups in the classification to one of five ranked skill levels.
    Skill Level 1 comprises the major groups, managers and administrators, and professionals; Skill Level 2 - associate professionals; Skill Level 3 - tradespersons and related workers and advanced clerical and service workers; Skill Level 4 - intermediate production and transport workers; and Skill Level 5 - elementary clerical, sales and service workers and labourers and related workers.
    Reference: Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second edition (ABS cat. no. 1220.0).

Own account worker
    a person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires no employees. (This category was formerly entitled self-employed.)
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Participation rate
    for any group, the labour force expressed as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over in the same group.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Part-time workers
    employed persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week and who did so during the survey reference week.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Part-time workers who prefer more hours
    part-time employed workers who indicated they would prefer to work more hours.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Private sector
    the public sector includes all employees of local government authorities and government departments, agencies and authorities created by, or reporting to, the Commonwealth Parliament and State and Territory Parliaments. All other employees are classified as private sector.
    Reference: Wage and Salary Earners, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6248.0).

Retired from full-time work
    persons who had a full-time job at some time and who had ceased full-time labour force activity (i.e. were not working full-time, were not looking for and did not intend to work full-time at any time in the future). Unpaid voluntary work was not considered as full-time work.
    Reference: Retirement and Retirement Intentions, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6238.0).

Service industries
    the combination of the following divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0): wholesale trade; retail trade; accommodation, cafes and restaurants; transport and storage; communication services; finance and insurance; property and business services; government administration and defence; education; health and community services; cultural and recreational services; and personal and other services.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Small business
    management units with fewer than 20 employees in all industries except agriculture where they have an estimated value of agricultural operations of between $22,500 and $400,000.
    Reference: Small Business in Australia (ABS cat. no. 1321.0).

Standardised participation rate
    age-specific labour force participation rates expressed as a percentage of the standard civilian population, to remove the effect of age and sex composition of the population. The standard population used is the 1991 Census population.

Trade union membership
    employees with membership of an organisation (or employee of professional association), the principal activities of which include the negotiation of rates of pay and conditions of employment for its members.
    Reference: Trade Union Members, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6325.0). For data after 1998, Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6310.0).

Unemployed
    persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the reference week, but who had actively looked for work and were available to start work.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Unemployment rate
    for any group, the number of unemployed persons is expressed as a percentage of the labour force in the same group.
    Reference: Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6203.0).

Working days lost
    total working days lost by employees directly or indirectly involved in industrial disputes.
    Reference: Industrial Disputes, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6321.0).


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