4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 1996  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/06/1996   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All  
Contents >> Income >> Definitions and references

Definitions and references

Adult employees - employees aged 21 or over, or those who are paid at the full adult rate.

    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Age pensioners - people receiving full or partial age pension excluding associated wife's or carer's pension. Men 65 years and over and women 60.5 years and over may be eligible to receive the age pension.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Report

Aged - men 65 and over and women 60 and over.
    Reference: Estimated Resident Population by Sex and Age: States and Territories of Australia (cat. no. 3201.0)

Consumer price index - a measure of change over time in the retail price of a constant basket of goods and services. The choice of goods and services is representative of consumption patterns of employee households in metropolitan areas. Indexed to 1990=100.
    Reference: Consumer Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6461.0)

Disability support pensioners
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Report

Employees - all wage and salary earners who received pay for any part of the reference period.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Equivalent income - usual income adjusted to allow comparison of economic well-being between income units, using Henderson equivalence scales. These equivalence scales are illustrative and not necessarily endorsed by the ABS.
    Reference: Social Indicators 5 (cat. no. 4101.0)

Female/male ratio of mean total full-time adult earnings
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Full-time employees - employees who usually work 35 hours or more a week, or the agreed hours of a full-time employee.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

GDP (gross domestic product) - an aggregate measure of the value of economic production in a year.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts; National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5204.0)

GDP spent on income support - special appropriations under the Social Security Act for income support as a proportion of GDP.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts: National Income and Expenditure (cat. no. 5206.0); Department of Social Security Annual Report

Gini coefficient - an index for measuring inequality of income. The index, always between 0 and 1, is low for populations with relatively equal income distributions and high for populations with relatively unequal distributions.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Gross income - usual income, before tax or any other deductions are made.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Gross state product - a similar measure to GDP but based on state income estimates.
    Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 5216.0)

Household disposable income - household income (as measured in the Australian National Accounts) less income tax and other direct taxes, fees, fines etc charged by the government, consumer debt interest and transfers overseas.
    Reference: Australian Economic Indicators (cat. no. 1350.0)

Income unit - a group of related people who live together and form a single spending unit. Income units can be considered to be families, except that non-dependant children and other adults living in the same household are separate income units.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Main income source from government payments - government pensions or allowances form the largest component of usual income.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Managerial employees - adult managerial, executive and professional staff, generally defined as those employees who do not receive payment for overtime, and/or who are in charge of a significant number of employees in a separate establishment(s).
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Mean total weekly earnings
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Mean weekly ordinary time earnings of full-time non-managerial adults
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Median weekly income - the level of weekly income at which half the income units have higher incomes and half have lower incomes.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Net income - gross income less personal income tax (including the Medicare levy).
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Ordinary time - employee's agreed hours of work including annual leave, paid sick leave and long service leave.
    Reference: Distribution and Composition of Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia (cat. no. 6306.0)

Real household disposable income - household disposable income (as measured in the Australian National Accounts) adjusted for change in prices.
    Reference: Australian Economic Indicators (cat. no. 1350.0)

Share of gross cash/net equivalent income going to top/bottom quintile - share of gross cash/net equivalent income received by the 20% of income units with the highest/lowest incomes.
    Reference: Survey of Income & Housing Costs and Amenities (cat. no. 6523.0)

Sole parent pensioners - recipients of the sole parent pension. In 1989, the supporting parent benefit and A class widow pensions were combined to form the sole parent pension. Figures prior to 1989 include these two pensions.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Reports

Unemployment allowees - the number of recipients of unemployment benefit prior to 1991 and of Job Search allowance, Newstart allowance and Youth Training allowance since then.
    Reference: Department of Social Security Annual Reports




Previous PageNext Page