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GLOSSARY

Actively looking for work

Includes writing, telephoning or applying in person to an employer for work; answering an advertisement for a job; checking factory noticeboards or the touchscreens at the Centrelink offices; being registered with Centrelink as a jobseeker; checking or registering with any other employment agency; advertising or tendering for work; and contacting friends or relatives.

Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)

The ASCED is a national standard classification which includes all sectors of the Australian education system, that is, schools, vocational education and training, and higher education. From 2001, ASCED replaced a number of classifications used in administrative and statistical systems, including the Australian Bureau of Statistics Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ). The ASCED comprises two classifications: Level of Education and Field of Education. See Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0).

Certificate not further defined

Survey responses were coded to Certificate not further defined (n.f.d.) when there was not enough information to code them to Certificate I, II, III or IV in the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0), Level of Education classification.

Consultant

For the data item 'Delivery of training course', as presented in this publication, a consultant refers to a person or organisation hired or contracted by an employer to deliver a work-related training course.

Country of birth

Country of birth has been classified according to the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 1998 (cat. no. 1269.0).

Educational institution or organisation

An institution or organisation providing education or training such as Universities, TAFEs, Schools, organisations which provide Adult and Community Education, Business Colleges and Professional or Industry Associations.

Employed

Persons who, during the reference week:

• worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers); or
• worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers); or
• were employees who had a job but were not at work; or
• were employers or own account workers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

Employed full-time

Employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week in all jobs and those who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

Employed part-time

Employed persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week in all jobs and either did so during the reference week, or were not at work in the reference week.

Employee

A person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, a retainer fee from their employer while working on a commission basis, tips, piece rates, or payment in kind, or a person who operates their own incorporated enterprises with or without hiring employees. In this publication, employee relates to his/her main job.

Employee excluding owner managers of incorporated enterprises

See entries for 'Employee' and 'Owner managers of incorporated enterprises'. This group is comparable with 'Wage or salary earners' presented in previous editions of this publication. See paragraph 50 of the Explanatory Notes for more details.

Employee training course

Courses attended by persons working for an employer for wages or salary, where the course was delivered by a staff member working for the employer or a consultant or trainer hired/contracted for the purpose, and was attended mainly by persons working for their employer. This differs from 'Internal training course' presented in previous editions of this publication. See paragraph 54 of Explanatory Notes for more details.

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.

Enrolled

Refers to persons enrolled for a course of study in the particular reference period (e.g. current or previous calendar year) at an educational institution or organisation (as defined).

Equivalised household income

Equivalising adjusts actual income to take account of the different needs of households of different size and composition. There are economic advantages associated with living with others, because household resources, especially housing, can be shared. The equivalence scale used to obtain equivalised incomes is that used in studies by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and is referred to as the 'modified OECD scale'. The scale gives a weight of 1.0 to the first adult in the household, a weight of 0.5 for each additional adult (persons aged 15 years and over), and a weight of 0.3 for each child. For each household, the weights for household members are added together to form the household weight. Total household income is then divided by the household weight to give an income that a lone person household would need for a similar standard of living. Equivalised household income can be viewed as an indicator of the economic resources available to each member of the household.

Field of training

Field of training is defined as the subject matter of a work-related training course. It was reported by the respondent, according to the content of the training course undertaken. The respondent was asked to choose the main field of training from a list of 16 options provided on a prompt card.

Financial support

Persons who completed at least one work-related training course during the 12 months prior to interview, and/or those who were enrolled in a course of non-school qualification study during 2005, were asked if they had received financial support from one or more of the following sources in relation to their training and/or study:

• an employer;
• the government;
• family members;
• union or professional organisation; and/or
• other source.

• provided paid time off or study leave;
• paid for HECS;
• paid for fees;
• paid for study or training materials;
• paid accommodation or travel expenses; and/or
• provided other financial support.

An Australian institution providing higher education courses, e.g. Universities; Colleges of Advanced Education; Institutes of Advanced Education; Institutes of Higher Education; Institutes of Tertiary Education; Agricultural Colleges and some Institutes of Technology.

Household

A group of related or unrelated persons who usually live in the same dwelling and make common provision for food and other essentials of living; or a lone person who makes provision for his or her own food and other essentials of living without combining with any other person.

Incorporated enterprise

An enterprise which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company).

Income

Regular and recurring cash receipts before income tax is deducted, including moneys received from wages and salaries, government pensions and allowances, and other regular receipts such as superannuation, worker's compensation, child support, other transfers from other households, scholarships, profit or loss from own unincorporated business or partnership and investment income.

Industry

From August 1994, Industry has been classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0).

Labour force

For any group, persons who were employed or unemployed, as defined.

Leave entitlements

Employees were asked whether they were entitled to paid holiday leave and/or paid sick leave with their employer. Entitlement to paid holiday and/or sick leave is sometimes used as a proxy for determining the permanent or casual status of workers.

Level (and Field) not determined

Level (and Field) not determined includes inadequately described responses and cases where no response was given.

Level of education

Level of education is a function of the quality and quantity of learning involved in an educational activity. It is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Level of Education classification.

Level of highest educational attainment

Level of highest educational attainment identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of study. It is not a measurement of the relative importance of different fields of study but a ranking of qualifications and other educational attainments regardless of the particular area of study or the type of institution in which the study was undertaken. See paragraphs 40-43 of the Explanatory Notes for how highest level is derived.

For this variable, Level (of highest educational attainment) not determined is used when respondents have given their highest level of school completed and have said they have a non-school qualification but have not supplied a level for the non-school qualification. Their highest level of school completed may well be their highest level of attainment but because the level of their highest non-school qualification is not available, it can not be determined whether their Year 12, 11 or 10 is their highest level of attainment. Level not determined also includes inadequately described responses or where no responses were given.

Main field of education

Main field of education is defined as the subject matter of an educational activity. It is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Field of Education classification.

Main language other than English spoken at home

The main language, other than English, spoken by a person in his/her home, on a regular basis, to communicate with other residents of the home and regular visitors to the home.

Main period employer

The employer for whom a person worked the most weeks for wages or salary in the 12 months prior to interview. The main period employer may not be their current employer.

Marginally attached to the labour force

Persons who were not in the labour force in the reference week, wanted to work and:

• were actively looking for work but did not meet the availability criteria to be classified as unemployed; or
• were not actively looking for work but were available to start work within four weeks or could start work within four weeks if child care was available.

The sum of the equivalised household income of each person in a group divided by the number of persons in the group. For example, the mean equivalised household income of persons aged 15 years and over is the sum of the equivalised household incomes of all persons aged 15 years and over in the population, divided by the number of persons aged 15 years and over in the population.

Mean training costs

The amount obtained by dividing the total cost of all courses in which participants incurred costs by the number of courses in which participants incurred costs. See entry for Training costs incurred by participant.

Mean usual weekly earnings

Usual weekly earnings is the amount of weekly pay usually earned while working as an employee, before taxation or other deductions are made. Annual, monthly or fortnightly amounts were converted to their weekly equivalent. If the person had more than one job, then the one in which the person usually worked the most hours was used to calculate usual weekly earnings. Mean usual weekly earnings were calculated by dividing the total usual weekly earnings for a particular population by the number of people in that population.

Median training costs

The amount which divides the distribution of training courses in which the participant incurred costs into two equal groups, one incurring training costs above and the other below that amount. See entry for Training costs incurred by participant.

Mixed field programmes

The field Mixed field programmes is categorised according to the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0) Field of Education classification.

Non-school qualification

Non-school qualifications are awarded for educational attainments other than those of pre-primary, primary or secondary education. They include qualifications at the Post Graduate Degree level, Master Degree level, Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate level, Bachelor Degree level, Advanced Diploma and Diploma level, and Certificates I, II, III and IV levels. Non-school qualifications may be attained concurrently with school qualifications.

Respondents aged 15-69 years were asked how many qualifications they had completed. Detailed questions were then asked about the three highest qualifications. This means that the tables in this publication relating to 'qualifications' (that is, tables 18 and 19) underestimate the number of qualifications attained by people who completed more than three qualifications.

Not in the labour force

Persons who were not in the categories 'employed' or 'unemployed' as defined.

Occupation

Classified according to the ASCO - Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition, 1997 (cat. no. 1220.0).

Other institution

Includes institutions or organisations that offer courses and/or training such as Schools, Business colleges, Industry skills centres, Professional or industry associations, Equipment/product manufacturers or suppliers, Job Network members or other government training centres, Adult or community education centres and 'Other' organisations.

Owner managers of incorporated enterprises

Persons who work in their own incorporated enterprise, that is, a business entity which is registered as a separate legal entity to its members or owners (also known as a limited liability company).

Qualification

Formal certification, issued by a relevant approved body, in recognition that a person has achieved learning outcomes or competencies relevant to identified individual, professional, industry or community needs. Statements of attainment awarded for partial completion of a course of study at a particular level are excluded.

Remoteness

The ABS has defined Remoteness within the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC). The ASGC Remoteness Structure is defined only in census years, commencing with the census year 2001, and includes all Collection Districts (CDs) across Australia. The purpose of the Remoteness Structure is to classify CDs which share common characteristics of remoteness into broad geographical regions called Remoteness Areas (RAs). The structure defines six RAs: Major Cities of Australia; Inner Regional Australia; Outer Regional Australia; Remote Australia; Very Remote Australia; and Migratory.

The delimitation criteria for RAs are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), which measures the remoteness of a point based on the physical road distance to the nearest Urban Centre (ASGC 2001) in each of five size classes. For this survey, the ASGC 2001 CDs were used. The RAs were derived by calculating the average ARIA index value for each CD and applying the ASGC 2001 RA criteria.

The Remoteness Structure is described in detail in the publication Statistical Geography Volume 1 Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) 2001 (cat. no. 1216.0).

School study

School study is participation in primary or secondary level education regardless of the institution or location where that study took place, including at a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institution or schooling at home.

Sector of employment

Sector of employment is used to classify a respondent's employer as a public or private enterprise. The public sector includes all government units, such as government departments, non-market non-profit institutions that are controlled and mainly financed by government, and corporations and quasi-corporations that are controlled by government. All other employers are classified to the private sector.

Studying full-time

Enrolment in study full-time as reported by the respondent.

Studying part-time

Enrolment in study part-time as reported by the respondent.

Study leading to a qualification

The reported level of education of any study being undertaken that will lead to formal certification, issued by a relevant approved body, in recognition that a person has achieved learning outcomes or competencies relevant to identified individual, professional, industry or community needs.

Study not leading to a qualification

Refers to all learning experience which form part of a course not leading to a qualification. Examples include statements of attainment, bridging and enabling courses, adult education courses, hobby courses and personal enrichment courses.

TAFE

A Technical and Further Education institution. In Victoria this may also be interpreted as Training and Further Education.

Training costs incurred by participant

Persons who completed at least one work-related training course during the 12 months prior to interview were asked whether they had personally paid for any part of their training. Some examples of costs are: course fees, materials, special clothing requirements, accommodation, travel costs and child care.

Unemployed

Persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the reference week, and;

• had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week; and
• were available for work in the reference week.

Work-related training courses

Work-related training courses are work-related learning activities, undertaken primarily to obtain, maintain or improve employment-related skills or competencies.

Work-related training courses were defined in this survey as activities which:

• were undertaken in Australia;
• had a structured format, with an orderly or methodical means of presenting or providing the training during a period of time; and
• were undertaken in the 12 months prior to interview.

• training seminars, training workshops and other group training sessions;
• demonstration training sessions and training conferences;
• audio visual presentations and talks or lecture presentations; and
• classroom-style presentations or self-paced training courses.

• on-the-job training or any type of ad hoc ‘learn as you go’ training;
• attendance at conferences, seminars, workshops, etc., where the primary focus was not on skills acquisition; and
• study for an educational qualification.

Worked full-time

Employed persons who usually worked 35 hours or more a week in their current main job and those who, although usually working less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

For persons who worked with their main period employer who was not their current main employer, it refers to those who usually worked 35 hours or more a week in that job.

Worked part-time

Employed persons who usually worked less than 35 hours a week in their current main job and either did so during the reference week, or were not at work in the reference week.

For persons who worked with their main period employer who was not their current main employer, it refers to those who usually worked less than 35 hours a week in that job.