• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

Benefit transfers

See Government pensions and allowances.

Capital cities

Australia's six State capital city statistical divisions. For the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas.

Couple, one family household

One family household consisting of:

• one couple only
• one couple, with their dependent and/or non-dependent children only
• one couple, with or without children, plus other relatives
• one couple, with or without children and other relatives, plus unrelated individuals.

Two people in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household.

Decile

Groupings that result from ranking all households or people 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 people 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 after income tax and the Medicare levy are deducted and family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is added. Income tax and the Medicare levy are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Family tax benefit is estimated on the basis of reductions in pay-as-you-go tax payments, as reported in the survey, or imputed on the basis of each family's income and composition. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income.

Employed persons

Persons aged 15 years and over who, during the week before the interview:

• worked one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (includes employees, employers and own account workers)
• worked one hour or more, without pay, in a family business or on a family farm
• had a job, business or farm but was not at work because of holidays, sickness or other reason.

An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours:

• works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages or salary, or is paid a retainer fee by his/her employer and works on a commission basis, or works for an employer for tips, piece-rates or payment in kind
• operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.

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.

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 see Appendix 3 (Equivalised disposable household income).

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.

Full-time employed

Employed persons who usually work 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs).

Full-time student

A person 15 years or over who is classified as a full-time student by the institution they attend, or considers himself/herself to be a full-time student. Full-time study does not preclude employment.

Gini coefficient

A summary measure of inequality of income distribution. For further information see Appendix 1 (Analysing income distribution).

Government pensions and allowances/Government cash benefits

Regular, recurring receipts 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. Sometimes referred to as government benefit transfers. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments. Note that family tax benefit paid fortnightly through Centrelink is included here. However, family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is not included here or in gross income. It is included under disposable income.

Gross income

Regular cash receipts before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted.

Group household

A household consisting of two or more unrelated people where all people are aged 15 years and over. There are no reported couple relationships, parent-child relationships or other blood relationships in these households.

Household

A group of related or unrelated people 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. Lodgers who receive accommodation only (not meals) are treated as a separate household. Boarders who receive accommodation and meals, are treated as part of the household.

Household composition

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 the number of dependent and non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals present. Non-family households are disaggregated into lone person households and group households.

Income

Regular and recurring cash receipts including moneys received from wages and salaries, government pensions and allowances, and other regular receipts such as superannuation, workers' compensation, child support, other transfers from other households, scholarships, profit or loss from own unincorporated business or partnership and investment income. Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted. Other measures of income are disposable income and equivalised disposable income. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers.

Income unit

One person or a group of related persons within a household, whose command over income is assumed to be shared. Income sharing is assumed to take place within married (registered or de facto) couples, and between parents and dependent children. The income unit was the unit of analysis used in the 1994-95 to 1999-2000 issues of this publication, but more recent issues uses the person as the unit of analysis with persons mostly described according to the characteristics of the household to which they belong.

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 belong to one of the following categories:

• state/territory housing authority - where the household pays rent to a state or territory housing authority or trust
• private landlords - where the household pays rent to a real estate agent or to another person not in the same household
• other - 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.

A household consisting of a person living alone.

Mean income

The total income received by a group of units divided by the number of units in the group.

Median income

That level of income which divides the units in a group into two equal parts, one half having incomes above the median and the other half having incomes below the median.

Negative income

Income may be negative when a loss accrues to a household as an owner or partner in unincorporated enterprises or rental properties. Losses occur when operating expenses and depreciation are greater than gross receipts.

Non-family household

Consists of unrelated people only. A non-family household can be either a person living alone or a group household.

Not in the labour force

Persons not in the categories employed or unemployed as defined.

One family household

A household containing only one family. Unrelated individuals may also be present.

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 family household

A household with an extended family (e.g. grandparents, parents and children); and a household with multiple families.

Other income

Income other than wages and salaries, own business or partnership 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 regular 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 tenure type

A household which is not an owner, a purchaser or a renter.

Own account worker

A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise 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 enterprises. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the enterprise 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 household in which at least one member owns the dwelling in which it usually resides. Owners are divided into two classifications - owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner without a mortgage.

Percentile

When all households or people 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. Ratios of values at the top of selected percentiles, such as P90/P10, are often called percentile ratios.

Principal source of income

That source from which the most positive income is received. If total income is nil or negative the principal source is undefined.

Private income

Regular, recurring receipts from private organisations, including superannuation, regular workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, private scholarship and child support.

Quintiles

Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population.

Ratio of household incomes at top of selected income percentiles

See percentile.

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:

• the person with the highest tenure when ranked as follows: owner without a mortgage, owner with a mortgage, renter, other tenure
• one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, with dependent children
• one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, without dependent children
• a lone parent with dependent children
• the person with the highest income
• the eldest person.

Renter

A household which pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See further classification by Landlord type.

Tenure type

The nature of a household's legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the household 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

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:
  • were available for work in the week before the interview, or would have been available except for temporary illness (i.e. lasting for less than four weeks before the interview), or
  • were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the interview and would have started in the week before the interview if the job had been available then

• were waiting to be called back to a full-time or part-time job from which they had been stood down without pay for less than four weeks before the interview for reasons other than bad weather or plant breakdown.

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.

Wages and salaries

The gross cash income received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business.