8149.0 - Human Resources by Selected Qualifications and Occupations, Australia, 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/05/2003   
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INTRODUCTION

1 This publication presents data on human resources by selected qualifications and occupations. It follows definitions and guidelines in the OECD’s manual, The
Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities, Manual on the Measurement of Human Resources Devoted to S&T (‘Canberra Manual’).

DEFINITIONS

2 The selected qualifications are post-secondary school qualifications at ASCED levels:

  • broad level 1, Postgraduate degree (including Doctoral and Master degree levels)
  • broad level 2, Graduate diploma and graduate certificate
  • broad level 3, Bachelor degree
  • detailed level 411, Advanced diploma.

3 The minimum entry requirement for these courses is usually the completion of Year 12. Typically the courses have a minimum duration of three years full-time study.

4 The selected occupations are those classified as ASCO occupations:
  • sub-major group 12, Specialist managers
  • major group 2, Professionals.

5 These occupations are defined in ASCO as the most highly skilled in the workforce and come under skill level 1.

DATA SOURCES

6 Data presented in this publication were obtained from:
  • the ABS 1991, 1996 and 2001 Censuses of Population and Housing
  • the ABS Labour Mobility Survey, February 2002
  • the ABS publication Migration, Australia, 1999–2000
  • the Department of Education, Science and Training publication Students 2001, Selected Higher Education Statistics
  • the National Centre for Vocational Education Research national vocational education and training (VET) data collection.

7 For tables sourced from the Census of Population and Housing, the population was all persons aged 15 years and over in place of usual residence. Persons classified as overseas visitors were excluded. Australians overseas were out of scope and there was no adjustment for under enumeration.

8 The Census aims to count every person who spent Census Night in Australia. This includes Australian residents in Antarctica and people in the territories of Jervis Bay, Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island. The other Australian External Territories, Norfolk Island and minor islands such as Heard and McDonald Islands, are outside the scope of the Australian Census. The only people in Australia on Census Night who are excluded from the Census are foreign diplomats and their families.

9 Overseas visitors were defined differently for the 2001 Census. For the 1996 Census, overseas visitors were defined as any person who stated they would be in
Australia for less than 6 months. For the 2001 Census, they were defined as any person who stated they would be in Australia for less than 12 months.

10 Income data in the 2001 Population Census were collected in ranges, not actual dollars, as this has proven to be the most reliable way to collect income data. Average annual incomes were calculated using the range data and mean values from the Survey of Income and Housing Costs.

11 The February 2002 Labour Mobility Survey was conducted as a supplement to the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Respondents to the LFS who fell within the scope of the supplementary survey were asked further questions.

12 The Labour Force Survey includes all persons aged 15 years and over except:
  • members of the permanent defence forces
  • certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments customarily excluded from census and estimated populations
  • overseas residents in Australia
  • members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependants).

13 The Labour Mobility Survey was restricted to persons aged less than 70 years who had worked at some time during the year ending February 2002.

14 Persons arriving in, or departing from, Australia provide information in the form of incoming and outgoing passenger cards. Incoming persons also provide information in visa applications, apart from people travelling as Australian and New Zealand citizens. These and other information available to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs serve as the source for statistics of overseas arrivals and departures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

CLASSIFICATION OF EDUCATION

15 In 2001, the ABS Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ) (cat. no. 1262.0) was replaced by the Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)
(cat. no. 1272.0). The ASCED is a national standard classification which can be applied to all sectors of the Australian education system including schools, Vocational Education and Training and Higher Education. It replaces a number of classifications previously used in administrative and statistical systems, including the ABSCQ. The ASCED comprises two classifications: Level of Education and Field of Education.

CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATION

16 Occupation data have been classified according to the ASCO-Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition (cat. no. 1220.0). ASCO is a
skill-based classification of occupations.

CLASSIFICATION OF INDUSTRY

17 Industry data have been classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0). ANZSIC classifies businesses according to their economic activities, in a structure consisting of four levels (Division, Subdivision, Group and Class).

DATA QUALITY

18 The errors that can occur in data from Population Censuses are termed non-sampling errors. In an estimate based on a sample survey, such as the Labour
Mobility Survey, two types of error are possible: sampling error and non-sampling error.

19 Non-sampling error arises from inaccuracies in collecting, recording and processing the data. The most significant of these errors are: misreporting of data items; deficiencies in coverage; non-response; and processing errors. Every effort is made to minimise non-sampling error by the careful design of questionnaires, intensive training and supervision of interviewers, and efficient data processing procedures.

20 Sampling error occurs because a sample, rather than the entire population, is surveyed. One measure of the likely difference resulting from not including all dwellings in the survey is given by the standard error. There are about two chances in three that a sample estimate will differ by less than one standard error from the figure that would have been obtained if all dwellings had been included in the survey, and about nineteen chances in twenty that the difference will be less than two standard errors. Details of sampling error in the Labour Mobility Survey can be found in Labour Mobility, Australia, February 2002 (cat. no. 6209.0).

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

21 Users may also wish to refer to the following publications:
  • Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) (cat. no. 1272.0)
  • ASCO-Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, Second Edition (cat. no. 1220.0)
  • Human Resources in Science and Technology (HRST), Australia, 1996 (cat. no. 8149.0)
  • Labour Mobility, Australia, February 2002 (cat. no. 6209.0)
  • Eurostat, Community Labour Force Surveys
  • OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, 2002/1
  • OECD, The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities, Manual on the Measurement of Human Resources Devoted to S&T (‘Canberra Manual’), OECD Paris, 1995

ROUNDING

22 Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.

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