The following abbreviations and symbols are used in this publication.
| ABCB | Australian Building Codes Board |
| ABS | Australian Bureau of Statistics |
| ACT | Australian Capital Territory |
| AES | Attitudes to the Environment Survey |
| ARIA | Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia |
| ASGC | Australian Statistical Geographical Classification |
| ASGS | Australian Statistical Geography Standard |
| Aust. | Australia |
| BSRED | Business Survey of Residential Electricity Distribution |
| CAI | computer assisted interviewing |
| CCB | Child Care Benefit |
| CCR | Child Care Rebate |
| CD | collection district |
| CD-ROM | compact disc read-only memory |
| CEA | Clean Energy Advance |
| CNOS | Canadian National Occupancy Standard |
| CPI | Consumer Price Index |
| CRA | Commonwealth Rent Assistance |
| CURF | confidentialised unit record file |
| DVA | Australian Government Department of Veterans Affairs |
| ERP | estimated resident population |
| ETR | Education Tax Refund |
| EUCS | Energy Use and Conservation Survey |
| FTB | Family Tax Benefit |
| GST | goods and services tax |
| HECS | Household Energy Consumption Survey |
| HELP | Higher Education Loan Program |
| HES | Household Expenditure Survey |
| HH | household |
| IU | income unit |
| kWh | kilowatt hours |
| kW | kilowatt |
| LPG | liquefied petroleum gas |
| MJ | megajoule |
| MPS | Monthly Population Survey |
| NSW | New South Wales |
| NMI | National Meter Identifier |
| NT | Northern Territory |
| PAL | primary approach letter |
| PPL | Paid Parental Leave |
| Qld | Queensland |
| RADL | Remote Access Data Laboratory |
| RSE | relative standard error |
| SA | South Australia |
| SA1 | statistical area level 1 |
| SA2 | statistical area level 2 |
| SA3 | statistical area level 3 |
| SA4 | statistical area level 4 |
| SE | standard error |
| SEIFA | Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas |
| SFSS | Student Financial Supplement Scheme |
| SIH | Survey of Income and Housing |
| Tas. | Tasmania |
| Vic. | Victoria |
| WA | Western Australia |