LABOUR FORCE
PURPOSE
To collect information about the labour force status and other characteristics of the usually resident civilian population aged 15 years and over. On a quarterly basis, data about industry and occupation of employment are collected to a sufficient level of detail to provide information about cultural and leisure employment.
DESCRIPTION
The Labour Force component of the Monthly Population Survey collects information from a sample of people aged 15 years and over living in urban and rural areas in all States and Territories in Australia. The survey is based on a multistage area sample of private dwellings (currently about 30,000 houses, flats, etc.) and a list sample of non-private dwellings (hotels, motels, etc.) and covers approximately 0.5% of the population of Australia. The information is obtained from occupants of selected dwellings during a two-week period each month by carefully chosen and specially trained interviewers. The information obtained relates to the week before the interview (i.e. the reference week). Households selected for the Labour Force Survey are interviewed each month for eight months. The first interview is conducted face to face with 'any responsible adult' in the household, with remaining interviews being conducted by telephone if acceptable to the respondent.
The survey includes all persons aged 15 years and over except: members of Australia’s permanent defence forces; certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments, customarily excluded from census and estimated populations; overseas residents in Australia; and members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants) stationed in Australia.
Along with the Labour Force Survey the Monthly Population Survey usually incorporates a 'supplementary survey'. The topic of the supplementary survey varies from month to month. Relevant topics are covered by separate entries in this directory. The standard Labour Force Survey data items shown below are also available for the supplementary surveys.
GEOGRAPHIC COVERAGE
Australia
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
Monthly
DATA ITEMS
Number of persons
The number of persons in Australia aged 15 years or more.
Attendance at education
Whether attending school (if aged 15-19)
Year and month left school (if aged 15-19)
Whether attending tertiary educational institution full-time (if aged 20-24)
Labour force status
Employed
Unemployed
Not in the labour force
Labour force derived data items
From the information obtained in the survey, the following data items are derived:
Unemployment rate (unemployment as a percentage of the labour force (employed plus unemployed people))
Participation rate (labour force as a percentage of the civilian population aged 15 years and over)
Estimates of labour force status, unemployment rate and participation rate are available on an original, seasonally adjusted and trend basis for Australia, States and Territories.
Occupation of employment
For employed people, their occupation in the main job they held in the reference week is classified according to the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO), second edition, to the 4 digit level. See ASCO codes related to culture and leisure for further details. Occupation data are collected in the February, May, August and November surveys.
Industry of employment
For employed people, the industry of their employer in their main job is classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993, to the 3 digit level. See ANZSIC codes related to culture and leisure for further details. Industry data are collected in the February, May, August and November surveys.
Other characteristics of employment
Status of worker (employee, employer, own account worker, contributing family worker)
Full-time/part-time status
Hours worked last week
Working/payment arrangements (e.g. wage or salary earner, commission only, contractor etc.)
Prefer to work more hours (for part-time workers only)
Reason for working less than 35 hours last week (for full-time workers)
Characteristics of unemployment
Whether looking for full-time or part-time work
Reason for ceasing last job (for those unemployed persons who worked for two weeks or more in the last two years)
Industry of last job (for those unemployed persons who worked for two weeks or more in the last two years)
Occupation of last job (for those unemployed persons who worked for two weeks or more in the last two years)
Reason not available to start work in reference week
Duration of unemployment
Whether looking for first job
Characteristics of people not in the labour force
Whether looking for work
Geographic area
Data are available for Australia, each State and Territory, Capital City/Balance of State (excluding Territories), and for the standard labour force survey dissemination regions within each State or Territory. Refer to the Australian Standard Geographic Classification for further details.
Marital status
Usually lives with a spouse/partner
Does not usually live with a spouse/partner
Country of birth and year of arrival
Country of birth is classified to the 4-digit level of the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). For people not born in Australia, the year of arrival in Australia is recorded.
Indigenous status
Not an Indigenous Australian
Aboriginal
Torres Strait Islander
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Relationship in household
Husband, wife or partner with children under 15
Husband, wife or partner without children under 15
Husband, wife or partner with dependents
Husband, wife or partner without dependents
Lone parent with children under 15
Lone parent with dependent students but without children under 15
Lone parent without dependents
Dependent student
Non-dependent child aged 15 or over
Other family person
Lone person
Non-family member not living alone
Usual resident of a household where relationship was not determined
Visitor to private dwelling
Person enumerated in non-private dwelling
Family type
Couple family
One parent family (male parent)
One parent family (female parent)
Other family
Other demographic characteristics
Other demographic characteristics for persons aged 15 years or more are:
Age
Sex
HISTORICAL DATA
From November 1960 to November 1963 the survey was conducted quarterly for the six State capital cities. National surveys were conducted in February, May, August and November each year from 1964 to February 1978. The survey has been conducted on a monthly basis since February 1978. In April 1986 the employment definition was aligned with the International Conference of Labour Statisticians recommendation for inclusion of Contributing Family Workers working 1 to 14 hours per week, resulting in a statistically significant break in series for estimates of employed, unemployed and not in the labour force.
There were changes in the classification systems used for occupation (in August 1986 and August 1996) and industry (in August 1994).
From April 2001 the Labour Force Survey has been conducted using a redesigned questionnaire containing additional data items and some minor definitional changes. Although the impact on core labour force series has been minor, revisions have been made to estimates previously published to ensure continuity. The revised series were initially released on 3 May 2001, and cover the period April 1986 to March 2001. Information Paper: Implementing the Redesigned Labour Force Survey Questionnaire (Cat. no. 6295.0) contains further information about the questionnaire changes and the revised series. For details on the content of the redesigned questionnaire, see Information Paper: Questionnaires Used in the Labour Force Survey (Cat. no. 6232.0), released on 10 May 2001.
DISSEMINATION
Main publications
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, Cat. no. 6203.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $27.00. Released monthly but ceased after the February 2003 issue.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia, Cat. no. 6202.0, ABS, Canberra. Price $26.00. Released monthly. Known as Labour Force, Australia, Preliminary up to and including the March 2003 issue.
Other
National Sport and Recreation Industry Database and Directory (NSRIDD).
CONTACT
In the first instance, refer to To obtain data or further information in the Introduction to this directory.
Labour Force Contact Officer
Monthly and Multipurpose Population Surveys Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
BELCONNEN ACT 2616
Telephone: Canberra 02 6252 6525
Facsimile: Canberra 02 6252 7784
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
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