1392.0 - Statistical News SA, Mar 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/03/2010   
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FEATURE ABS RELEASES


Publications

Australians are using less water but more energy

Australians are using less water but more energy, according to Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends, Jan 2010. The report presents a snapshot of environmental issues affecting Australia. The 2010 edition also includes a feature article on the issue of climate change, and what it means for Australia.

This release highlights that water use by agriculture has fallen by almost half in two years, with the biggest reductions occurring in New South Wales (61.3%) and Victoria (44.3%). In South Australia, however, the amount of water used by agriculture fell by only a small proportion (4.3%).

Water storage levels in Australia’s 'food bowl', the Murray Darling Basin, were down to less than one third of capacity at the end of October 2009.

Almost half (49%) of all homes in South Australia had a rainwater tank, the highest proportion of all States and Territories.

While water consumption fell, energy use rose. Australia's heavy reliance on fossil fuels, especially for power generation, has seen greenhouse gas emissions in the energy sector rise by almost one-half since 1990, although emissions per head of population fell by 12% over the same period.

Some interesting facts on attempts to reduce energy consumption:

  • The Northern Territory and Western Australia lead other states in solar hot water use (54% and 21%, respectively), but overall, less than 10% of Australian homes were using solar hot water in 2008.
  • Australians are living in larger homes with fewer people; this is increasing greenhouse emissions from the electricity and gas used to build and run the houses.
  • Over three quarters of people use a private vehicle to travel to work, but the proportion using public transport is slowly increasing. The biggest increases in public transport use have been recorded in Victoria and South Australia, while New South Wales has fallen slightly.

Further details can be found in Australia's Environment: Issues and Trends, Jan 2010 (cat. no. 4613.0).


Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force Participation

Information from the ABS survey on the Barriers and Incentives to Labour Force participation (cat. no. 6239.0) provides information on the potential labour force and the characteristics of that potential labour force, which can be used to obtain a better understanding of the factors that influence people to increase their participation in the labour force.

Of the 16.1 million people aged 18 years or over there were 1.4 million who wanted a job or who would prefer more hours and would be available to work within 4 weeks. However 58% of this group indicated they were not looking for a job or more hours. Most of this group were women (524,500 or 66%) and most were not in the labour force (687,600 or 87%).

'Caring for children' was the most commonly reported main reason for not looking for work or more hours and of people giving this response 54% reported they 'preferred to look after children' as the main reason for this while 16% reported 'cost/too expensive'. Another commonly reported main reason for not looking for work or more hours was 'studying/returning to studies'.

The most important work related incentive to join or increase participation in the labour force for both men and women was 'ability to work part time hours', with 51% of women and 28% of men reporting this as 'very important'. The next most important work related incentive for women to join or increase participation in the labour force was 'work set hours on set days'. For both men and women the most important financial incentive to join or increase participation in the labour force was the ability to 'keep more of pay' with 37% of people reporting that this was 'very important'.


Other Information

Making sense of statistics

The ABS has recently launched a suite of 'Understanding Statistics' webpages on the ABS website. These webpages consist of a range of fact sheets, information guides, video tutorials, presentations and online courses to help you:
  • find statistics you're looking for
  • understand statistical concepts and processes
  • analyse, interpret and evaluate statistical information
  • communicate statistical findings with tables and graphs

The Introduction to Statistics Online course provides a comprehensive overview of statistics.

For more information about specific topics of interest have a look at our online video tutorials and presentations.