6261.0.55.001 - Characteristics of Wage and Salary Earners in Regions of Australia, 2000-01  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/03/2004   
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Age

The date of birth field has been used to calculate age. Wage and salary earner data applicable to persons aged 15 years and over.

Average wage and salary income

Calculated by dividing total wage and salary income by the number of wage and salary earners (as defined).

Income tax year

Refers to the financial year, i.e. 1 July to 30 June. Note: Wages and salaries for some taxpayers may not relate to a whole year's employment or may relate to more than one job during the year.

Inner Regional Australia

Imposes some restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Local Government Area (LGA)

These areas are the spatial units which represent the geographical areas of incorporated local government councils and incorporated Community Government Councils (CGCs) where the CGC is of sufficient size and statistical significance. The various types of LGAs are cities (C), areas (A), boroughs (B), rural cities (RC), towns (T), shires (S), district councils (DC) and municipalities (M).

Major cities of Australia

Imposes minimal restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Median wage and salary income

The median is the mid value which divides a population distribution into two, with half of the observations falling below it and half above it. Median wage and salary income has been calculated from data provided in ranges and therefore the distribution within a range has been assumed to be even. Care should be taken when using the data and the median treated as an estimate only. Medians have not been calculated for areas with small numbers of wage and salary earners.

Occupation

Taxpayers who earned wage and salary income are asked by the ATO to provide details of the title of their occupation for the job in which they earned the most wage and salary income. From the income tax return, occupation is coded to the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, First Edition. In addition some ATO specific codes are also used. These are: (a) Members of the defence forces, (b) Pensioners and social security benefit recipients and (c) Unemployed persons. These specific ATO codes comprise less than 1% of the total wage and salary earner population for Australia and have been included in the category 'not stated'. Further details about the occupation classification can be referenced in Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO) - Statistical Classification (First Edition), 1993, (cat. no. 1222.0).

(Note: The total number of wage and salary earners in the category 'not stated' is high at around 27% for total Australia in 1995-96, 25% in 1996-97, 24% in 1997-98, 22% in 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and 20% in 2000-01. For some SLAs the 'not stated' category is as high as 50%, although in many of these SLAs the 'Members of the defence forces' category contributes significantly to the high proportion. The 'not stated' category includes non-response to the occupation question, occupation descriptions which were unable to be coded and the ATO specific codes as mentioned above. In addition, due to internal auditing purposes within the ATO, some occupations are not coded for some individuals. Most of these are lower income earners. The magnitude of the contribution of each of these groups to the 'not stated' category is unknown).

Outer Regional Australia

Imposes a moderate restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

PAYG payment summary - individual non-business

A summary received at the end of the financial year by a wage or salary earner which details amounts earned from the employer during the year and the tax withheld. (Note: Previously called Group Certificate).

Principal source of income

The source from which the most income was received during the financial year.

Remote Australia

Imposes a high restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Statistical Division (SD)

These consist of one or more SSDs. The divisions are designed to be relatively homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable social and economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities.

Statistical Local Area (SLA)

These geographical areas are in most cases identical with, or have been formed from a division of, whole LGAs. In other cases, they represent unincorporated areas. In aggregate, SLAs cover the whole of a state or territory without gaps or overlaps. In some cases legal LGAs overlap Statistical Subdivision boundaries and therefore comprise two or three SLAs (Part A, Part B and, if necessary, Part C).

Statistical Subdivision (SSD)

These are of intermediate size, between SLAs and SDs. In aggregate, they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. They are defined as socially and economically homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable links between the inhabitants. In the non-urban areas an SSD is characterised by identifiable links between the economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities.

Very Remote Australia

Imposes the highest restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Wage and salary earners

Persons aged 15 years and over who have submitted a tax return and for whom wage and salary income was the principal or main source of income for the financial year.

Wage and salary income

Includes gross income as shown on the 'PAYG (Pay As You Go) payment summary - individual non-business' as well as allowances, commissions, bonuses, tips, gratuities, consultation fees, honoraria and other payments for services. Allowances and other earnings may include car, travel or transport allowances, allowances for tools, clothing or laundry and dirt, risk, meal or entertainment allowances, etc. The statistics were compiled from questions 1 and 2 on the individual income tax return (2000-01).


DATA CLASSIFICATIONS

Age

15 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 44 years
45 - 54 years
55 years and over

Occupation (Major Groups) - ASCO First Edition

1 Managers and Administrators
2 Professionals
3 Para-Professionals
4 Tradespersons
5 Clerks
6 Salespersons and Personal Service Workers
7 Plant and Machine Operators
8 Labourers and Related Workers
9 Not stated

Sex

Males
Females

Wage and Salary Income (Annual)

$1 to less than $10,400
$10,400 to less than $20,800
$20,800 to less than $31,200
$31,200 to less than $41,600
$41,600 to less than $52,000
$52,000 or more