4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/05/2002   
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MEDIA RELEASE

May 28, 2002
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
48/2002

Attention Chiefs of Staff and News Editors

Australian Social Trends to be released 4 June

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will release the ninth edition of Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) in one week's time on June 4, 2002.

Australian Social Trends 2002 profiles Australian society and looks at changes in the nation's social conditions and well-being. The publication features 31 articles containing new analysis of current ABS data, as well as data from other sources. The articles cover a range of topics related to population, families, health, education, work, income and housing. These provide an insight into topical issues and the changing nature of Australian society.

This alert is to aid your planning and research by giving you advance notice of the release of this major publication.

The publication is a source of a wide variety of stories on current and emerging issues of social interest. A full list and synopsis of the articles is attached.

A media release with some summary information will be widely distributed. At the time of release, the publication will be available from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au) - within the "Australia Now" section, where previous editions are currently available. However, please note that the hardcopy publication will be boxed at the Canberra Press Gallery by request only. The publication will also be available for collection on the day from our State offices in each capital city, again by request.

Media wishing to arrange for a copy of Australian Social Trends 2002 please contact client.services@abs.gov.au


AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL TRENDS 2002: LIST OF CONTENTS

Population Chapter

    Regional population ageing - examines patterns of regional population ageing, along with the causes for regional population ageing, giving some insight into likely future trends.

    Fertility futures - reviews the causes of low fertility and explores its implications for the size and structure of the Australian population through examining three very different fertility scenarios. The resulting population size and age profile lies at the heart of many current economic, environmental, and social issues.

    Older overseas-born Australians - discusses the demographic profile of this group and how this might change in the future. It also discusses the location, living arrangements, health and proficiency in spoken English of older overseas-born Australians.

    New Zealanders in Australia - presents a profile of New Zealand-born residents, including how long they have lived in Australia, where they tend to settle, their living arrangements, skills and employment patterns.
Family Chapter

    Trends in childlessness - outlines trends in childlessness and discusses some of the reasons why people remain childless. The characteristics of women who remain childless are also outlined.

    People with a disability: need for guidance - focuses on those people with a disability who need help (or guidance) to either make friends, interact with others, maintain relationships, cope with feelings or emotions, make decisions, or think through problems. Examines the types of guidance needed and associated factors such as type of disability or condition, self-assessed health status and participation in various activities.

    Changes across Australian generations - uses cohort analysis to examine the way that the living arrangements and income characteristics of people in certain age groups are changing over time.

    Transitions in living arrangements - Family and household units are by nature dynamic, with many transitions occurring throughout the life-cycle. This article examines the types of transitions that commonly take place, and the reasons for these changes. The characteristics of temporary residents are also discussed.

    Selected risks faced by teenagers - examines various aspects of teenagers lives, including drug use, mental health, leading causes of injury and death, and rates of crime and victimisation.

Health Chapter
    Organ donation - discusses the types of transplants carried out in Australia, the numbers of people on waiting lists and the willingness of individuals to become donors after death.

    Work-related injuries - describes the nature and causes of work-related injuries and looks at the people, occupations and industries most affected. Also discussed are compensation of injured workers and time taken off work as a result of work-related injury.

    Cardiovascular disease: 20th century trends - describes changes in the incidence of cardiovascular disease (including heart attack, stroke and heart disease) and resulting death rates over the course of the 20th century. Contributing factors such as diet and lifestyle are also discussed.

    Mortality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - examines the major causes of death contributing to the lower life expectancy of Indigenous Australians compared with the total population, and discusses the potential years of life expectancy that could be gained if death rates from these causes could be reduced to those of the total population.

    Infant mortality - focuses on trends in neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates over the last 20 years and discusses some of the causes of infant deaths over this period.

Education Chapter
    Overseas students - describes some of the characteristics of overseas students, and outlines the social and economic benefits to Australia of welcoming students from other countries.

    Education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - examines some of the recent trends in Indigenous participation in education, and discusses retention rates, literacy levels, field of study, type of institution and outcomes in terms of work obtained.

    Literacy and numeracy among school students - compares performance in literacy and numeracy tests of primary and secondary students in Australia and selected overseas countries, and discusses various factors which influence performance.

    Education and training: international comparisons - uses a range of OECD indicators, including participation rates and levels of educational attainment, to explore Australia's education and training performance in an international context.
Work Chapter
    Employment arrangements - describes the nature and range of contemporary employment arrangements and working hours.

    Searching for work - examines the characteristics of successful job-seekers and the methods they used to find a job. The characteristics of unsuccessful job-seekers are also examined.

    Working from home - describes the characteristics of home workers, the reasons they work from home, the types of work they do, and their conditions of employment.

    Voluntary work - volunteers make a large contribution to Australian society and play a part in building social networks and increasing social cohesion. This article describes the characteristics of these volunteers, the work they undertook and their reasons for volunteering.

    How pay is set - compares the proportions of employees whose pay was set by individual agreements, collective agreements or awards, and examines some of the complex interrelationships between the methods used to set employees' pay and a range of factors including size of employer, industry, occupation and characteristics of employees.
Income Chapter
    Trends in disability support - describes changes in the numbers and characteristics of disability support pensioners over the last 20 years, and provides an insight into possible future trends.

    Households in financial stress - uses experimental ABS measures of financial stress to look at the distribution of financial stress among different life-cycle groups.

    Employee superannuation - discusses various aspects of superannuation coverage for employees, such as contributions and balances, and outlines some of the factors that affect employees' ability to accrue superannuation.

    Household debt in the 1990s - taking a life cycle approach, this article looks at several aspects of household debt including the proportion of households with loans, the amount of principal outstanding on household loans, the proportion of income spent on interest payments and credit card use within the community.
Housing Chapter
    Home renovation - describes the types of home renovations undertaken by owner-occupiers, and examines the characteristics of renovated homes and of the people living in them, as well as the costs associated with different types of home renovations.

    Renter households - discusses households renting from private landlords and State housing authorities in regard to their life-cycle stages and examines their income, rent payments and rental arrangements.

    Housing condition and maintenance - presents data on Australian householders' perceptions of the condition of their dwellings (i.e.structural problems and the need for repairs), and the types and costs of maintenance carried out in the previous year.

    Energy efficiency in the home - examines the consumption of energy within our homes and looks at some of the measures taken by households to reduce their use of energy.