Labour Force Status and Educational Attainment

   Page tools:

    NAME OF ORGANISATION
    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW

    This survey collected details of the level and field of educational qualifications in the general population. These persons were also asked the country in which they obtained their qualifications and the year of attainment. Data was cross-classifiable by labour force and demographic information.

    PURPOSE

    Data on educational attainment is collected to determine the level of skills available in the Australian community, and, in particular amongst those who are employed or looking for work. Information on the currency and quality of these skills is in demand by policy makers to determine where and when to apply policy measures to ensure changes in the labour market are matched by the acquisition of new skills.

    SCOPE

    Scope

    The Labour Force Survey includes all persons aged 15 and over except:

    1. members of the permanent defence forces;
    2. certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and estimated populations;
    3. overseas residents in Australia; and
    4. members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia.

    From July 1993 Jervis Bay Territory is also excluded from the scope of the survey. Before July 1993 it was included in estimates for the Australian Capital Territory.

    The Educational Attainment supplementary survey is restricted to 15 to 69 year olds and also excludes visitors to private dwellings and some patients in hospitals and sanatoriums and inmates of gaols, reformatories, etc.

    Coverage

    In the population survey, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each persons is associated with only one dwelling, and hence has only one chance of selection. The chance of a person being enumerated at two separate dwellings in the one survey is considered to be negligible.

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework

    The survey was asked of respondents to the Monthly Labour Force survey. It provides profiles of educational attainment by labour force characteristics such as employment, industry and occupation. It also provides valuable information on the take-up rates of post-school study among the various age cohorts and enables monitoring of access to education by some disadvantaged groups.

    Main outputs

    Tabulations most commonly published and sought after included:

    Educational attainment * Labour force status * Sex

    Educational attainment * Age * Sex

    Educational Attainment * Industry

    Educational attainment * Family Status

    Educational attainment * Birthplace * Occupation

    Educational attainment * Main field of study

    Employed persons * educational attainment * selected characteristics

    Main survey populations * State and Territory

    Classifications

    Australian Standard Classification of Occupation (ASCO) - 4 digit level

    Australian Standard Industry Classification (ASIC) - 3 digit level

    Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) - State, Area & Regions

    Country of Birth - selected countries

    Marital Status - Married, Not married

    Relationship in Household - all

    Sex - Male, Female

    Age - 15 to 69 years - single ages or groups

    Australian Bureau of Statistics Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ) - Level and Detailed Field of Study

    Other concepts (summary)

    Not known at this stage

    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT

    Comments and/or Other Regions

    Excludes External Territories. From July 1993 Jervis Bay Territory is excluded from the scope of the survey. Before July 1993 it was included in estimates for the Australian Capital Territory.

    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    Annually

    Frequency comments

    Collection discontinued. Final collection in February 1994.

    COLLECTION HISTORY

    The survey was collected in February of each year from 1979 to 1994. A new Classification of Qualifications was introduced into the last survey (in line with it's introduction in all other Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collections).This Classification (ABS Classification of Qualifications) has only limited points of comparability with the previous Classification.

    DATA AVAILABILITY
    Yes

    Data availability comments

    Ad hoc data requests may be generated from a mainframe data set. State versions of publication tables are available on microfiche.


    DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
    30/04/2002 03:27 PM