6287.0 - Labour Force Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: Experimental estimates from the Labour Force Survey, 2005  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/05/2006   
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MEDIA RELEASE

May 16, 2006
Embargoed 11:30am (AEST)
40/2006

Latest release of experimental Indigenous labour force statistics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released today the latest experimental estimates compiled from the monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS) on the labour force characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. These estimates are a continuation of a series first released in January 2005 containing 2002, 2003 and 2004 estimates.

The ABS considers the estimates experimental due to the relatively short time series available and the small sample of Indigenous people in the LFS. The estimates have been released to give users an opportunity to assess their usefulness.

To assist users in determining the usefulness of the estimates, the publication includes information about how the estimates were constructed. It also describes a number of important statistical and data quality issues which should be considered when using the LFS estimates to describe labour force characteristics of Indigenous Australians. These quality issues are mainly due to the small number of Indigenous people in the LFS sample, and collection difficulties in remote areas.

The ABS recommends that people who use the experimental estimates give due consideration to the data quality issues outlined in the publication.

Further details are in Labour Force Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians: Experimental estimates from the Labour Force Survey, 2005 (cat. no. 6287.0) available on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au>. The publication can be downloaded free of charge from the ABS web site.