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GLOSSARY

Balance of state

That part of each Australian state or territory not defined as capital city. Balance of state estimates for Northern Territory are regarded as too unreliable to publish separately since they exclude collection districts defined as very remote which account for a significant proportion of the population. All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this publication.

Capital city

Refers to Australia's six State capital city Statistical Divisions and the Darwin Statistical Division as defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). For the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas.

Collection District (CD)

The Census Collection District (CD) is the smallest geographic area defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

A general measure of price inflation for the household sector in Australia. Specifically, it provides a measure of changes, over time, in the cost of a constant basket of goods and services acquired by the capital city households in Australia.

Couple

See One family households.

Couple family with dependent children

See One family households.

Deciles

Groupings that result from ranking all households or persons 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 persons 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. Income tax and the Medicare levy are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income.

Employed

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.

• 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 their own incorporated business with or without 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.

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.

Family composition of household

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 whether or not dependent children are present. Non-family households are disaggregated into lone person households and group households.

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.

Government pensions and allowances

Income support payments 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. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments. The one-off payment to seniors paid in 2000-01, the one-off payment to families paid in 2003-04 and the one-off payments to carers paid in 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 are included. Family tax benefit is also regarded as income. However, prior to 2005-06 family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink was only included in disposable income, and not gross income.

Gross income

Regular cash receipts (including salary sacrificed income) before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted.

Group household

See Non-family household.

Household

A person living alone or a group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same private dwelling.

Income

Regular and recurring cash receipts including money received from:

• wages and salaries (whether from an employer or own incorporated enterprise), including income provided as part of a salary sacrifice arrangement
• profit/loss from own unincorporated business (including partnerships)
• investment income (interest, rent, dividends, royalties)
• government pensions and allowances
• private cash transfers (e.g. superannuation, regular workers' compensation, income from annuities, child support, and other transfers from other households).

Incorporated business

An incorporated business is a company that has a registered business name with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and a legal status which is separate to that of the individual owners of the business.

Labour force status

Classifies all persons 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 are classified 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.

Mean household net worth

The total net worth of a group of households divided by the number of households in the group.

Mean income

The total income received by a group of units divided by the number of units in the group. For more detail about household weighted and person weighted means, see Appendix 1.

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. For more detail about household weighted and person weighted medians, see Appendix 1.

Medicare levy

Medicare is Australia's universal health care system. The Medicare levy is a specific tax, based on individual income, intended to assist in the funding of this system.

Multiple family household

A household containing two or more families. Unrelated individuals may also be present.

Negative income

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

Net worth

Net worth is the value of a household's assets less the value of its liabilities. For further information refer to paragraphs 31 to 34 in Explanatory Notes.

Non-dependent children

Persons aged 15 years and over who:

• do not have a spouse or offspring of their own in the household
• have a parent in the household
• are not full-time students aged 15-24 years.

• Group household - a household consisting of two or more unrelated persons where all persons are aged 15 years and over. There are no reported couple relationships, parent-child relationships or other blood relationships in these households.
• Lone person household - a household consisting of a person living alone.

One family households

One family households are classified to one of the following categories:

• Couple only - two persons in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household
• Couple family with dependent children - a household consisting of a couple with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals
• One parent family with dependent children - a household comprising a lone parent with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals
• Other one family households - a household comprising:
  • one couple with their non-dependent children only
  • one couple, with or without non-dependent children, plus other relatives
  • one couple, with or without non-dependent children or other relatives, plus unrelated individuals
  • a lone parent with his/her non-dependent children, with or without other relatives and unrelated individuals
  • two or more related individuals where the relationship is not a couple relationship or a parent-child relationship (e.g. two brothers).

Other income

Income other than wages and salaries, own unincorporated business 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 one family households

See One family households.

Other tenure type

A household which is not an owner (with or without a mortgage), or a renter. Includes rent free.

Own account worker

A person who operates his or her own unincorporated business 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 businesses. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the business 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 the household members usually reside. Owners are divided into two categories - 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.

Percentiles

When all households or persons 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. See Appendix 1 for information on the use of percentile ratios in analysing distributions.

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. As there are several possible sources, the principal source may account for less than 50% of gross income.

Private income

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

Quintiles

Groupings that result from ranking all households or persons 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 Percentiles.

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:

• 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.

Relative standard error (RSE)

The standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate for which it was calculated. It is a measure which is independent of both the size of the sample, and the unit of measurement and as a result, can be used to compare the reliability of different estimates. The smaller an estimate's RSE, the more likely it is that the estimate is a good proxy for that which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. For further information see Appendix 5.

Renter

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

Salary packaging

An arrangement for the employer to remunerate the employee with a combination of cash wages and salaries and one or more non-cash benefits, to the value of the employee's total remuneration.

Salary sacrifice

An arrangement under which an employee agrees contractually to forgo part of the remuneration, which the employee would otherwise receive as wages and salaries, in return for the employer or someone associated with the employer providing benefits of a similar value.

Selected dwelling

The private dwelling selected in the sample for the survey. See the Explanatory Notes for details of types of dwellings and how they are selected for this survey.

Significant person

Significant persons are defined as follows:

• all members of lone person or couple only households
• all parents in a couple with children household or a single parent household
• the person aged 15 years or over in a group household where one person is aged 15 years or over and the other members of the household are less than 15 years old
• 50% of the persons aged 15 years and over in all other households.

Statistical Division (SD)

The largest spatial units within each state/territory in the main structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0.

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 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
• 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.

Wages and salaries

The gross cash income received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business. Salary sacrificed income is regarded as cash or 'near cash' income and is included in the scope of wages and salaries.

Wealth

See Net worth.