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GLOSSARY
Administrative data Are collected as part of the day to day processes and record keeping of organisations. Administrative data, such as historical data or public records, include: school enrolments; hospital admissions; records of births, deaths, and marriages. The data are not collected initially for statistical purposes but can be organised to produce statistics. Air conditioner An apparatus for controlling the temperature of an enclosed space. It can be portable or fixed into the structure of the dwelling, usually in the wall or ceiling. Common types of air conditioner include reverse-cycle, evaporative and wall/ window mounted air conditioning. Balance of state That part of each Australian state or territory not defined as capital city. Balance of state estimates for Northern Territory are regarded as too unreliable to publish separately since they exclude collection districts defined as very remote which account for about 23% of the NT population. All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this survey. Bottled gas Bottled gas is gas provided in a large bottle or canister which is located near the house. A gas retailer may remove and replace empty canisters or refill them. Bottled gas specifically used for outdoor barbecues was excluded from the survey Capital city Refers to Australia's six State capital city Statistical Divisions and the Darwin Statistical Division as defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this survey. Ceiling fan An apparatus usually electrically powered, suspended from the ceiling of a room that uses rotating paddles to circulate air. Climate zone The climate zone classifications used are based on the eight climate zones defined by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). Each climate zone is based on humidity, temperature and rainfall characteristics. For more information please see paragraphs 18 to 20 of the Explanatory Notes. Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is a non-taxable income supplement paid through Centrelink to individuals and families who rent in the private rental market. It is only paid to recipients of another government benefit or pension, and paid in conjunction with that other benefit. Compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) A fluorescent lamp designed to replace an incandescent lamp, which uses a curved or folded tube to fit into the space of an incandescent bulb. Connected to the grid Households with solar panels which are connected to the grid can export volumes of electricity to the electricity network. Consumer Price Index (CPI) A general measure of price inflation for the household sector in Australia. Specifically, it provides a measure of changes, over time, in the cost of a constant basket of goods and services acquired by the capital city households in Australia. Continuous hot water system Continuous hot water systems heat the water at any time of the day or night and can generate hot water as needed (also known as an instantaneous hot water system) or use a storage tank. Couple See One family households. Couple family with dependent children See One family households. Deciles Groupings that result from ranking all households or persons in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into 10 equal groups, each comprising 10% of the estimated population. Dependent children All persons aged under 15 years; and persons aged 15–24 years who are full-time students, have a parent in the household and do not have a partner or child of their own in the household. Disposable income Gross income less income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge i.e. remaining income after taxes are deducted, which is available to support consumption and/or saving. Income tax, Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income. Dwelling Defined as a suite of rooms contained within a building which are self-contained and intended for long-term residential use. To be self-contained the suite of rooms must possess cooking and bathing facilities as building fixtures. Examples of types of dwelling include: separate house; semi-detached, row or terrace house or townhouse; flat, unit, or apartment; and other dwelling, including caravan, cabin, houseboat, and house or flat attached to a shop. Dwelling energy Any source of energy that is used within a dwelling, such as electricity or gas. Electricity distributor Entity responsible for the provision of electricity from the transmission network to customers. Distributors own, operate and maintain the electricity network (meters, poles and wires) and have set geographical boundaries of operation (also see electricity retailer). Electricity concessions Includes social transfers in kind relating to electricity concessions and rebates. Electricity consumption The amount of electricity used by a dwelling. Electricity network grid The interconnected network of transmission lines, power stations and transformers that deliver electricity from power stations to consumers. Dwellings that generate electricity can export electricity they produce to the grid. Electricity read period The amount of time elapsed between each reading of an electrical meter. As the amount of electricity read is used for calculating electricity bills, these are also known as billing periods. In most areas of Australia these are a period of approximately 90 days. Electricity retailer Entity customers buy electricity from. Retailers facilitate services such as connection/disconnection and arrange for the bills to be issued to customers. Retailers can operate across any distribution region (also see electricity distributor). Electricity supplied from residential meters The amount of electricity exported to the electricity network grid from dwellings with net or gross metering. Net and Gross electricity meter reads collected between 1 January to 31 December were combined to create annual electricity export volumes. For meter read periods that overlap calendar years, (e.g. meter reading start date of December 2011 and end date of February 2012) total supply and generation figures were pro-rated across the appropriate years. Electricity supplied to residential meters The amount of electricity imported from the electricity network grid. All individual electricity meter reads collected between 1 January to 31 December were combined to create annual electricity import volumes. For meter read periods that overlap calendar years, (e.g. meter reading start date of December 2011 and end date of February 2012) total supply and generation figures were pro-rated across the appropriate years. Employed Persons aged 15 years and over who, during the week before the interview:
Employee An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours:
Employer A person who operates his or her own unincorporated business or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees. Employment income See Wages and salaries. Energy costs as a proportion of gross household income The total weekly energy costs of a group (e.g. one parent households) divided by the total gross weekly income of that group, expressed as a percentage. Energy source Any power source or material (such as wood, coal, gas, solar or oil) which can produce heat or power. This includes energy or fuel used for heating, cooking, hot water, lighting and fuel for vehicles. Equivalised disposable household income Disposable household income adjusted using an equivalence scale. For a lone person household it is equal to disposable household income. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the disposable household income that would need to be received by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For further information refer to paragraphs 36 to 38 of the Explanatory Notes. Evaporative air conditioner Consists of a motor driven fan, a dust filter, a water tank and a wetting medium. Hot air is drawn across the medium which is saturated with water from the tank. The water evaporates, absorbing heat from the air, and cooler moist air is blown into the room. Not very efficient in cooler climates. Family Two or more people, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering, and who usually live in the same household. A separate family is formed for each married couple, or for each set of parent-child relationships where only one parent is present. Family composition of household Classifies households into three broad groupings based on the number of families present (one family, multiple family and non-family). One family households are further disaggregated according to the type of family (such as couple family or one-parent family) and according to whether or not dependent children are present. Non-family households are disaggregated into lone person households and group households. Feed-in tariff Financial payments or credit received for the volume of electricity households connected to the grid may receive. Fixed payment plans An arrangement made between an electricity or mains gas provider for the household to pay a fixed amount at regular intervals to cover expected energy costs throughout the year. Flat, unit or apartment Includes all self-contained dwellings in blocks of flats, units or apartments. These dwellings do not have their own private grounds and usually share a common entrance foyer or stairwell. This category includes houses converted into flats and flats attached to houses such as granny flats. A house with a granny flat attached is regarded as a separate house. Fluorescent tube A light source consisting of a glass tube that uses fluorescence to produce visible light. Fuel for vehicles Any fuel that is used for a vehicle, such as petrol, diesel or LPG. Generating dwelling A dwelling that generates electricity through the use of small scale renewable technologies (e.g. solar photovoltaic panels). A generating dwelling will have either a net or gross meter to record electricity imports and exports. Generation The amount of electricity a dwelling generates through the use of small scale renewable technologies (e.g. solar photovoltaic panels) that is then used by the dwelling or fed back into the electricity network grid. Government pensions and allowances Income support payments from government to persons under social security and related government programs. Included are pensions and allowances received by aged, disabled, unemployed and sick persons, families and children, veterans or their survivors, and study allowances for students. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments. Family Tax Benefit, Baby Bonus and Child Disability Assistance Payment paid to recipients of Carer Allowance are also included in government pensions and allowances. GreenPower GreenPower provides an option for households, through their electricity retailer, to pay a premium for electricity generated from renewable sources that is fed into the national electricity grid. Gross income Income from all sources, whether monetary or in kind, before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted. Gross metering Total electricity supply and generation are recorded separately. All electricity generated by the dwelling exported to the electricity grid. All electricity supplied to the dwelling is imported from the electricity grid. Group household See Non-family household. Halogen light An incandescent lamp with a small amount of halogen added. Heat pump hot water system A heat pump system removes energy from a low temperature source (ambient air or waste water) and moves it to a high temperature hot water tank. Heaters An apparatus for controlling the temperature of an enclosed space. It can be portable or fixed into the structure of the dwelling, usually in the wall or ceiling. Common types of heaters include ducted gas, reverse-cycle air conditioners, wall/ window mounted gas or electric and portable heaters. Hot water system A device used for heating water for a dwelling. The energy source for heating is generally solar, gas or electricity, although some houses use other sources e.g. wood combustion. Household A person living alone or a group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same private dwelling. Household questionnaire Used to collect information on household characteristics, dwelling energy expenditure, housing costs and household assets and liabilities. Incandescent light (GLS) A bulb or lamp which produces light when a filament wire glows by being heated to a high temperature by an electric current passing through it. Also known as General Lighting Service (GLS). Income Income consists of all current receipts, whether monetary or in kind, that are received by the household or by individual members of the household, and which are available for, or intended to support, current consumption. Income includes receipts from:
Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted. Other measures of income are Disposable income and Equivalised disposable household income. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers. Individual questionnaire Used to collect information from each person aged 15 years and over on individual details such as income, personal assets, education, expenditure on vehicle fuels and labour force status. Instantaneous hot water system See continuous hot water system. Insulation Refers to insulating materials placed in the walls, ceilings, roof or floors of a dwelling to keep it at a constant temperature by minimising heat transfer. It comes in different forms, the most common being loose-fill insulation, blanket insulation, rigid board insulation and spray-foam insulation. Kilowatt hour (kWh) A common unit of measurement for electricity supply. It is a unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt (1,000 watts) of power expended for one hour of time. Labour force status Classifies all people aged 15 years and over according to whether they were employed, unemployed or not in the labour force. Landlord type For renters, the type of entity to whom rent is paid or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made. Renters are classified to one of the following categories:
Light-emitting diode (LED) A device that emits light when an electrical current is passed through it. Typically LEDs used for lighting comprise a small series of lights which make up a larger display. Lone person household See Non-family household. Longitudinal component A voluntary longitudinal follow-up questionnaire where households provided details relating to changes in household energy costs, consumption and behaviour, every three months, up to a maximum of four times, until March 2013. Low flow shower head A shower head that has a water efficient or low flow regulator fitted to it so as to restrict water flow. LPG Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, also called LP Gas, or autogas) is the generic name for mixtures of hydrocarbon (mainly propane or butane). It is used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles. Main cooling system used during summer The appliance type with the highest total sum hours of usage, as based on the average usage hours and number of coolers reported on the self-complete paper form. Main heating system used during winter The appliance type with the highest total sum hours of usage, as based on the average usage hours and number of heaters reported on the self-complete paper form. Main living areas Main living areas include the kitchen, dining room, lounge/ family room and main bedroom of a dwelling. Main source of income That source from which the most positive income is received. If total income is nil or negative the main source is undefined. As there are several possible sources, the main source may account for less than 50% of gross income. Mains gas Gas supplied to a dwelling via a pipeline. Mean The mean is the sum of the value of each observation in a dataset divided by the number of observations. This is also known as the arithmetic average. Mean income The total income received by a group of units divided by the number of units in the group. Mean net worth Mean (or average) net worth is the total net worth of a group of units divided by the number of units in the group. Medicare levy Medicare is Australia's universal health care system. The Medicare levy is a specific tax, based on individual income, intended to assist in the funding of this system. Medicare levy surcharge The Medicare levy surcharge is a levy, or an additional tax, on Australian taxpayers who do not have an appropriate level of private hospital insurance and who are earning more than the specified income threshold. Mesh blocks Are the smallest geographic region in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and form the basis for the larger regions of the ASGS. There are approximately 347,000 mesh blocks covering the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. They broadly identify land use such as residential, commercial, agricultural and parks etc. Mesh blocks are the building blocks for all the larger regions of the ASGS. As mesh blocks are very small they can be combined together to accurately approximate a large range of other statistical regions. Meter counts Is the sum of unique national meter identifiers that recorded a reading within the period of 1 January to 31 December. Mortgage A mortgage is a loan taken out using the usual residence as security. An owner with a mortgage must still owe money from such a loan. Multiple family household A household containing two or more families. Unrelated individuals may also be present. National Meter Identifier (NMI) A unique 10 digit value used to identify electricity meters. Negative income Income may be negative when a loss accrues to a household as an owner or partner in unincorporated businesses, rental properties or other investment income. Losses occur when operating expenses and depreciation are greater than gross receipts. Net metering Electricity generated is consumed by the dwelling in the first instance, with any excess generation exported to the electricity grid. If a dwelling's electricity requirements exceed its generation capabilities, then energy is imported from the network grid. (Note: Total electricity consumption and generation for a dwelling with net metering is unknown, as the amount of generated energy used within the dwelling is not captured by the meter. Only the shortfall of electricity that is imported to the dwelling or the excess of electricity generated that is exported to the grid is measured by this type of meter). Net worth Net worth is the value of a household's assets less the value of its liabilities. Net worth may be negative when household liabilities exceed household assets. Non-dependent children Persons aged 15 years and over who:
Non-family household A household that consists of unrelated persons only. Non-family households are classified to one of the following categories:
Non-generating dwelling A dwelling that does not generate electricity (e.g. does not have solar photovoltaic panels). Non-generation metering All electricity supplied to the dwelling is imported from the electricity grid. The dwelling does not have access to small scale electricity technologies and therefore there is no generation of electricity in this dwelling. Not in the labour force Persons not in the categories employed or unemployed as defined. Off peak hot water system An off-peak hot water system only receives electricity at set times, usually when tariffs are lower and stores hot water within a storage tank. Systems with a twin element, which use both continuous and off-peak power, were coded as off-peak as the main element uses off-peak power. One family households One family households are classified to one of the following categories:
See One family households. One parent, one family household A one family household comprising a lone parent with at least one dependent or non-dependent child. The household may also include other relatives and unrelated individuals. Other income Income other than wages and salaries, own unincorporated business income and government pensions and allowances. This includes income received as a result of ownership of financial assets (interest, dividends), and of non-financial assets (rent, royalties) and other current receipts from sources such as superannuation, child support, workers' compensation and scholarships. Income from rent is net of operating expenses and depreciation and may be negative when these are greater than gross receipts. Other landlord type Where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere. Other one family households See One family households. Other payments Households that receive income from other government pensions and allowances. These include overseas pensions and benefits, partner allowance, sickness allowance, special benefit, war widow pension (DVA), widow allowance, wife pensions, seniors supplement, and other government pensions and allowances. Other private income Private income other than employee income, government pensions and allowance and income from own business. It includes superannuation, workers' compensation, child support and any other allowances regularly received as well as interest and property rent. Other sources of household energy Includes sources of energy used in the dwelling other than electricity or gas, such as firewood, oil etc. Other tenure type A which is not an owner (with or without a mortgage), or a renter. Includes rent free. Own account worker A person who operates his or her own unincorporated business or engages independently in a profession or trade and hires no employees. Own unincorporated business income The profit/loss that accrues to persons as owners of, or partners in, unincorporated businesses. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the business after the deduction of operating expenses (including depreciation). Losses occur when operating expenses are greater than gross receipts and are treated as negative income. Owner (of dwelling) A unit (i.e. household, income unit or person, where applicable) in which at least one member owns the dwelling in which the unit members usually reside. Owners are divided into two categories—owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the unit is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the unit is an owner without a mortgage. "Pay As You Go" metering Meters that utilise pre-paid credits for electricity usage. Dwellings on this type of meter do not receive power bills or have their meters read by distributors and hence are not captured in the BSRED. Percentiles When all households or persons in the population are ranked from the lowest to the highest on the basis of some characteristic such as their household income, they can then be divided into equal sized groups. Division into 100 groups gives percentiles. The highest value of the characteristic in the tenth percentile is denoted P10. The median or the top of the 50th percentile is denoted P50. P20, P80 and P90 denote the highest values in the 20th, 80th and 90th percentiles. Portable air conditioner/ heater A portable air conditioner can be moved around the dwelling. It is often on wheels. Private income Current receipts from private organisations and other households, including wages and salaries, income from own business, superannuation, workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, scholarships and child support. Private renter A household paying rent to a landlord who is a real estate agent, a parent or other relative not in the same household or another person not in the same household. Public renter A household paying rent to a state or territory housing authority/trust. Quintiles Groupings that result from ranking units in the population (e.g. households or electricity meters) in ascending order according to some characteristic (e.g. energy expenditure or supply or generation volume) and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population. Reference person The reference person for each household is chosen by applying, to all household members aged 15 years and over, the selection criteria below, in the order listed, until a single appropriate reference person is identified:
Relative standard error (RSE) The standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate for which it was calculated. It is a measure which is independent of both the size of the sample, and the unit of measurement and as a result, can be used to compare the reliability of different estimates. The smaller an estimate's RSE, the more likely it is that the estimate is a good proxy for that which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. For further information see 'Sampling variability'. Renter A unit that pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See 'Landlord type' for further classification. Residential tariff The electricity pricing scheme applicable to residential dwellings. Reverse cycle air conditioner A reverse cycle air conditioner may also be used as a heater (often referred to as heat pump systems). The temperature is able to be varied between warm and cool settings. Salary packaging An arrangement for the employer to remunerate the employee with a combination of cash wages and salaries and one or more non-cash benefits, to the value of the employee's total remuneration. Salary sacrifice An arrangement under which an employee agrees contractually to forgo part of the remuneration, which the employee would otherwise receive as wages and salaries, in return for the employer or someone associated with the employer providing benefits of a similar value. Selected dwelling The private dwelling selected in the sample for the survey. Self-complete paper form The form supplied to households during the household interview used to obtain information on selected heating, cooling, lighting and other appliances used in the household. Semi-detached, row or terrace house or townhouse A dwelling with its own private grounds and no dwelling above or below. A key feature of this dwelling is that it is either attached in some structural way to one or more dwellings or is separated from neighbouring dwellings (usually by less than one-half metre). Examples include semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses or villa units. Multistorey townhouses or units are separately identified from those which are single storey. Separate house A dwelling which is self-contained and separated from other houses (or other buildings or structures) by a space to allow access on all sides (usually at least one-half metre). This category also includes houses that have an attached flat (e.g. a granny flat). The attached flat will be included in the flat, unit or apartment category. Significant person Significant persons are defined as follows:
Solar electricity Electricity supplied via solar panels, also known as photovoltaic or PV panels. Photovoltaic (PV) is a technology that uses solar cells to convert sunlight directly into electricity. Solar hot water system A system that uses solar energy to heat water for household use by absorbing sunlight as heat directly into the water-carrying tubes contained in the pane. Includes solar hot water systems that have boosters to heat water during periods of rain or overcast conditions, and when heavy demand exhausts the hot water supply before it can be reheated by the sun. Standard error (SE) A measure of the likely difference between estimates obtained in a sample survey and estimates which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. The magnitude of the standard error associated with any survey is a function of sample design, sample size and population variability. For further information see 'Sampling variability'. Statistical Area 2 (SA2) This is a classification of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and are based on suburbs and regional localities. There are 2,214 SA2s across Australia and have an average population of about 10,000, with a minimum population of 3,000 and a maximum of 25,000. Statistical Area 3 (SA3) The SA3 regions are built from whole SA2s. In general, the SA3s are designed to have populations between 30,000 and 130,000 persons. SA3s are often the functional areas of regional towns and cities with a population in excess of 20,000 or clusters of related suburbs around urban commercial and transport hubs within the major urban areas. Statistical Area 4 (SA4) The SA4 regions are the largest sub-state regions in the main structure of the ASGS. SA4s are built from whole SA3s. In regional areas, SA4s tend to have populations closer to the minimum (100,000 - 300,000). In metropolitan areas, the SA4s tend to have larger populations (300,000 - 500,000). Statistical Division (SD) The largest spatial units within each state/territory in the main structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no.1216.0). Strata A strata title is where a title to a piece of property is divided into a number of units. In some cases, not all of the property is divided into saleable units but is retained as common property for all unit holders to use. Some examples of common property are elevators and corridor lighting. Tenure type The nature of a unit's (i.e. household's, income unit's or person's, where applicable) legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the unit members usually reside. Tenure is determined according to whether the household owns the dwelling outright, owns the dwelling but has a mortgage or loan secured against it, is paying rent to live in the dwelling or has some other arrangement to occupy the dwelling. Unemployed Persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the week before the interview and had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks before the interview and:
Unemployment and study payments Households that receive income from Austudy/ABSTUDY, Newstart allowance or Youth allowance. Unincorporated business A business in which the owner(s) and the business are the same legal entity, so that, for example, the owner(s) are personally liable for any business debts that are incurred. Vehicles Vehicles include registered and unregistered vehicles used for private purposes including cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, caravans, aircraft, boats and bicycles. Wages and salaries An employee's total remuneration, whether monetary or in kind, received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business. It comprises wages and salaries, bonuses, amounts salary sacrificed, non-cash benefits such as the use of motor vehicles and subsidised housing, and termination payments. Wealth See Net worth.
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4670.0 - Household Energy Consumption Survey, Australia: Summary of Results, 2012
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/09/2013 First Issue
This page last updated 21 February 2014