6261.0.55.001 - Characteristics of Wage and Salary Earners in Regions of Australia, 2000-01  
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INTRODUCTION

Remote Australia is defined in the remoteness structure as those areas where geographic distance imposes a high restriction upon accessibility to the widest range of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction. Parts of Australia classified as Remote include Cobar (New South Wales), the northern Wimmera district (Victoria), Charters Towers and Cooktown (Queensland), Port Lincoln (South Australia), the Kalgoorlie gold-fields (Western Australia), parts of West Coast Tasmania, Alice Springs and Katherine (Northern Territory). Further details regarding all Remoteness Structure areas, including a map, are provided in the accompanying APPENDIX - REMOTENESS STRUCTURE

The following main features describe the major differences in the characteristics of wage and salary earners in Remote Australia compared with Australia as a whole and should be read in conjunction with the EXPLANATORY NOTES and GLOSSARY Links to main features for other Remoteness Structure areas are situated on the Main Features - Australia page, which also highlights comparisons between each remoteness class. Detailed tables for each state and territory, by remoteness class, can be accessed through the data cubes.

It should be noted that in the statistics presented below Indigenous persons engaged in Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) may be included in the data for the years 1995-96 to 1997-98 but excluded for 1998-99 onwards. The general effect of this is that the number of wage and salary earners may be overstated and median wage and salary income understated for the first three years of this series. The effect on the total amount of wages and salaries paid is not significant. Consequently, analysis of changes between these particular groups of years for the number of wage and salary earners and median wage and salary incomes need to be treated with caution. For further details please refer to the EXPLANATORY NOTES paragraphs 33 to 37.


MAIN FEATURES - REMOTE AUSTRALIA

For the financial year 2000-01, there were approximately 112,400 wage and salary earners located in Remote areas of Australia. Since the previous year, the number has decreased by 3.4% from around 116,400, continuing the downward trend over the last few years.

In 2000-01, wage and salary earners in Remote areas comprised 1.5% of all employees in Australia. In comparison, 1.7% of the estimated resident population aged between 15 and 64 years, the primary years when people are in the labour force, were resident in these remote areas.

Total wage and salary income paid to Australia's wage and salary earners in Remote areas was $3.8 billion in 2000-01. This was $41.1m (1.1%) more than in 1999-2000 and $378m (11.1%) more than reported in 1995-96. The average annual rate of increase for total wages paid in Remote areas over the last five years has been 2.1% compared with the Australian average annual increase of 4.9%.

For the financial year 2000-01, the median individual annual wage and salary income for wage and salary earners in Remote areas was $29,296. This was an increase of 4.5% over the previous year ($28,037) and higher than the annual increase of 3.3% for all employees in Australia.

In 2000-01, the median annual wage and salary income in Remote areas was $1,174 or 3.9% lower than the median for Australia. The median for Remote areas is higher than the median for all other remoteness areas except Major Cities. The higher median wage and salary income in Remote areas is influenced by high wages and salaries paid to employees in the mining industry in particular, which is concentrated in these as well as Very Remote regions, as well as higher wages offered to employees in general to attract them to work in these remote regions.

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, Remote, 1995-96 to 2000-01
% Change
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
1999-00 to 2000-01
1995-96 to 2000-01(a)
Wage and salary earners (no.)
120,047
121,525
122,077
118,161
116,388
112,428
-3.4
-1.3
Wage and salary income ($m)
3,418
3,634
3,763
3,770
3,756
3,797
1.1
2.1
Median annual wage and salary income ($)
24,839
25,965
26,656
27,823
28,037
29,296
4.5
3.4
Australian median annual wage and salary income ($)
26,309
26,919
27,775
28,705
29,509
30,470
3.3
3.2
(a) Average annual rate of increase.
Note: Indigenous persons engaged in CDEP projects may be included in the above data for the years 1995-96 to 1997-98 and excluded for 1998-99 onwards. Consequently changes between 1997-98 and 1998-99 and 1995-96 and 2000-01 in particular need to be treated with caution. For further details please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.

MEDIAN ANNUAL WAGE AND SALARY INCOME,
Remote and Australia, 1995-96 to 2000-01

Graph: Median Annual Wage and Salary Income, Remote and Australia, 1995-96 to 2000-01

Note: Indigenous persons engaged in CDEP projects may be included in the above data for the years 1995-96 to 1997-98 and excluded for 1998-99 onwards. Consequently changes between 1997-98 and 1998-99 and 1995-96 and 2000-01 in particular need to be treated with caution. For further details please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


SEX DISTRIBUTION

In 2000-01, there were around 63,400 (56.4%) male and 49,000 (43.6%) female wage and salary earners in Remote areas. These proportions differ from those for total Australia (54.8% male and 45.2% female), indicating a more male dominated employee workforce. The median annual wage and salary income for males was $36,920 while for females it was $22,246, compared with national median wage and salary incomes of $36,403 for males and $25,091 for females. While the median for males was higher in Remote areas than for Australia as a whole, the median for females was significantly less than the national figure.

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, By Sex, Remote, 2000-01
Males
Females
Persons
Wage and salary earners (no.)
63,419
49,021
112,440
Median annual wage and salary income ($)
36,920
22,246
29,296
Australian median annual wage and salary income ($)
36,403
25,091
30,470
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


AGE DISTRIBUTION

The 25-34 year age group accounted for the greatest proportion (26.8%) of wage and salary earners in Remote areas in 2000-01 while the 35-44 year age group comprised 26.0%. These proportions were slightly higher than those for Australia as a whole which were 25.9% and 24.6% respectively.

In 2000-01, median annual wage and salary incomes were lower in Remote areas than the Australian figure for all age groups except for wage and salary earners aged 15-24 years. For this age group the median ($16,990) was the second highest of all remoteness areas. It is likely that persons aged 15-24 are more likely to be working full-time rather than undertaking study and working part-time (which would have the effect of lowering the median).

Within Remote areas, the median income was lowest in the 15-24 year age group ($16,990) and increased with age, peaking in the 45-54 year age group ($34,423).

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, By Age Group, Remote, 2000-01
15 - 24
years
25 - 34
years
35 - 44
years
45 - 54
years
55 years
and over
Total
WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS
Remote (no.)
21,634
30,135
29,281
21,899
9,469
112,418
Remote (%)
19.2
26.8
26.0
19.5
8.4
100.0
Australia (%)
19.3
25.9
24.6
20.9
9.4
100.0
MEDIAN WAGE AND SALARY INCOME ($)
Remote
16,990
32,165
33,884
34,423
29,694
29,277
Australia
15,815
33,320
35,632
36,193
31,835
30,470
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.

MEDIAN ANNUAL WAGE AND SALARY INCOME BY AGE GROUP,
Remote and Australia, 2000-01

Graph: Median Annual Wage and Salary Income by Age Group, Remote and Australia, 2000-01

Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


OCCUPATION DISTRIBUTION

The distribution of wage and salary earners across the occupation groups shows some variation between Remote areas and all of Australia. The occupation groups Labourers and related workers (20.4%) and Tradespersons (12.7%) had the largest proportions of wage and salary earners in Remote areas. These proportions were greater than for the same groups at the Australia level. This difference is possibly attributable to employment in the agricultural and mining industries that require unskilled and semi-skilled labour.

The occupation groups Clerks (10.5%) and Professionals (10.1%) had lower proportions of wage and salary earners in Remote areas than at the Australia level. (Note: Wage and salary earners whose occupation was not stated accounted for 14.0% of all wage and salary earners in Remote areas and 20.1% for Australia overall).

The occupation group Professionals had the highest median annual wage and salary income ($43,322) in Remote areas, but was still lower than the median fro this occupation group in Australia as a whole ($45,549) while Salespersons and personal service workers had the lowest median with $19,458. Several occupation groups had higher median annual wage and salary incomes in Remote areas than for Australia. This was particularly so for Plant and machine operators and drivers ($41,744), Para-professionals ($41,393) and Tradespersons ($35,426). These occupation groups are common in industries such as mining which are more common in remote areas.

Conversely, Managers and administrators ($35,696) had a median wage and salary income almost $6,400 below the Australian figure in 2000-01.


WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, By Occupation(a), Remote, 2000-01
Managers
and
admini-
strators
Profess-
ionals
Para-
profess-
ionals
Trades-
persons
Clerks
Sales-
persons
and personal
service
workers
Plant and
machine
operators
and
drivers
Labourers
and related workers
Not
stated
Total
WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS
Remote (no.)
9,824
11,340
7,074
14,253
11,782
12,159
7,315
22,932
15,750
112,429
Remote (%)
8.7
10.1
6.3
12.7
10.5
10.8
6.5
20.4
14.0
100.0
Australia (%)
9.5
13.5
5.8
10.2
12.4
12.2
4.4
11.9
20.1
100.0
MEDIAN WAGE AND SALARY INCOME ($)
Remote
35,696
43,322
41,393
35,426
25,513
19,458
41,744
27,094
18,277
29,307
Australia
42,061
45,549
39,620
32,470
28,583
22,150
36,925
25,970
22,052
30,470
(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.

MEDIAN ANNUAL WAGE AND SALARY INCOME BY OCCUPATION(a),
Remote and Australia, 2000-01

Graph: Median Annual Wage and Salary Income by Occupation, Remote and Australia, 2000-01

(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


The distribution of male and female wage and salary earners across the occupation groups shows substantial variation. Labourers and related workers (26.6%), and Tradespersons (19.8%) accounted for the largest proportion of male wage and salary earners in Remote areas in 2000-01. These occupation groups are common in the agriculture and mining sectors which are prevalent in remote areas of Australia.

In contrast, the largest proportion of females occurred in the Clerks (21.4%) and Sales and personal service workers (19.3%) groups. The occupation group Clerks accounted for 2.1% of male wage and salary earners, while females were less represented in the Plant and machine operators and drivers group (0.9%).

In the occupation group Professionals, females had a higher proportion of wage and salary earners (12.8%) than males (8.1%). The numerical difference was almost 1,200 persons

Apart from a slight increase in Very Remote areas there is an overall decline in the proportion of male Professionals as remoteness increases. This trend is quite different for females with the proportion of Professionals increasing with remoteness from Outer Regional to Very Remote areas. This may partly be due to more women being employed in industries such as Health and community services and Education. A similar trend is also evident for Managers and administrators.

Conversely, the proportion of male Para-professionals increases with remoteness from Outer Regional to Very Remote areas while for females the proportion declines from Inner Regional to Remote areas before increasing in Very Remote.

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, Occupation(a) by Sex, Remote, 2000-01
Managers
and
admini-
strators
Profess-
ionals
Para-
profess-
ionals
Trades-
persons
Clerks
Sales-
persons
and personal
service
workers
Plant and
machine
operators
and
drivers
Labourers
and related workers
Not
stated
Total
Males (no.)
6,590
5,109
3,268
12,580
1,326
2,617
6,901
16,901
8,140
63,432
Females (no.)
3,233
6,285
3,788
1,694
10,467
9,454
449
6,022
7,632
49,024
Males (%)
10.4
8.1
5.2
19.8
2.1
4.1
10.9
26.6
12.8
100.0
Females (%)
6.6
12.8
7.7
3.5
21.4
19.3
0.9
12.3
15.6
100.0
Australia
Males (%)
11.9
13.3
4.6
16.9
4.3
7.7
7.3
15.4
18.7
100.0
Females (%)
6.7
13.9
7.1
2.5
21.7
17.4
1.0
8.0
21.8
100.0
(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Individual Income Tax Data.


PROPORTION OF WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS,
By Occupation(a) and Sex, Remote, 2000-01

Graph: Proportion of Wage and Salary Earners by Occupation and Sex, Remote, 2000-01

(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


The proportional distribution of wage and salary earners across the occupation groups shows variation within each age group. The largest proportion of wage and salary earners in Remote areas was Labourers and related workers aged 35-44 years. Each age range for this occupation group, except those aged 55 years and over, contained 4.0% or more of the total number of wage and salary earners in Remote areas. Tradespersons aged 25-34 years comprised 3.9% of all wage and salary earners while Professionals in the same age group comprised 3.4%. (Note: Wage and salary earners whose occupation was not stated accounted for 14.0% of all wage and salary earners in Remote areas).

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, Age by Occupation(a), Remote, 2000-01
15-24
years
25-34
years
35-44
years
45-54
years
55 years
and over
Total
%
%
%
%
%
%
no.
Managers and administrators
0.5
1.8
2.7
2.5
1.3
8.7
9,826
Professionals
0.9
3.4
2.8
2.2
0.8
10.1
11,382
Para-professionals
0.4
1.8
2.0
1.5
0.6
6.3
7,058
Tradespersons
3.0
3.9
3.1
1.9
0.8
12.7
14,313
Clerks
1.5
3.0
3.1
2.1
0.7
10.5
11,783
Salespersons and personal service workers
3.1
3.0
2.5
1.6
0.5
10.7
12,040
Plant and machine operators and drivers
0.5
1.7
2.0
1.6
0.8
6.5
7,359
Labourers and related workers
4.0
5.2
5.4
4.0
1.8
20.4
22,915
Not stated
5.3
3.0
2.5
2.2
1.0
14.0
15,729
Total
19.3
26.8
26.0
19.4
8.4
100.0
112,405
Total (no.)
21,681
30,136
29,267
21,861
9,460
-
112,405
(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.


The following table shows the distribution of wage and salary income by occupation group as a proportion of all employees. Labourers and related workers with wage and salary income in the range $20,800 to less than $31,200 accounted for 4.6% of all wage and salary earners in Remote areas and a further 4.3% had salaries in the range $10,400 to less than $20,800. In addition, Labourers with annual wages above $52,000 made up 3.9% of all employees in Remote areas.

The prevalence of mining activities in Remote areas contributes to the proportion of wage and salary earners with high annual wages and salaries. In addition to Labourers and related workers, Tradespersons accounted for 3.5% of all employees with annual incomes above $52,000, Professionals accounted for 3.4% and Plant and machine operators and drivers, 2.3%.

WAGE AND SALARY EARNERS, Wage and Salary Income by Occupation(a), Remote, 2000-01
$1 to
less than
$10,400
$10,400 to
less than
$20,800
$20,800 to
less than
$31,200
$31,200 to
less than
$41,600
$41,600 to
less than
$52,000
$52,000
or more
Total
PROPORTION (%)
Managers and administrators
0.6
1.2
1.8
1.8
1.3
2.1
8.7
Professionals
0.6
1.1
1.3
1.7
2.0
3.4
10.1
Para-professionals
0.4
0.7
0.9
1.2
1.2
1.9
6.3
Tradespersons
0.9
1.9
2.6
2.3
1.5
3.5
12.7
Clerks
1.5
2.4
2.9
2.2
0.9
0.6
10.5
Salespersons and personal service workers
2.7
3.1
3.0
1.3
0.4
0.3
10.8
Plant and machine operators and drivers
0.3
0.6
0.9
1.4
1.0
2.3
6.5
Labourers and related workers
3.2
4.3
4.6
3.0
1.4
3.9
20.4
Not stated
4.7
3.0
2.5
1.6
1.0
1.2
14.0
Total
14.9
18.3
20.6
16.5
10.6
19.1
100.0
(a) Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, 1st Edition.
Note: Due to the randomisation process applied to small cells for confidentiality purposes, totals for each characteristic and geographic area may differ from table to table. For further information please refer to the Explanatory Notes.
Source: ATO Income Tax Data.