GLOSSARY
Age
This is the reported age of a person on their last birthday.
Analog/Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
A telecommunications network operated by a carrier to provide services to the public.
Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED)
The ASCED is a new national standard classification which includes all sectors of the Australian education system, that is, schools, vocational education and training, and higher education. From 2001, ASCED replaced a number of classifications used in administrative and statistical systems, including the ABS Classification of Qualifications (ABSCQ). The ASCED comprises two classifications: Level of Education and Field of Education. See Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED), 2001 (cat. no. 1272.0).
Balance of Queensland Major Statistical Region (MSR)
See Statistical region.
Bit
Abbreviation for binary and describing the smallest unit of information handled by a computer. One bit expresses a 1 or a 0 in a binary numeral, or a true or false logical condition. See also Byte.
Brisbane Major Statistical Region (MSR)
See Statistical region.
Broadband
Defined by the ABS as an 'always on' Internet connection with an access speed equal to or greater than 256 Kilobits per second (Kbps).
Byte
Abbreviation for binary term. A unit of data, almost always consisting of 8 bits. A byte can represent a single character, such as a letter, a digit, or punctuation mark. See also kilobit and kilobyte.
Cable
Describes those technologies including coaxial cable, fibre optic cable and hybrid fibre coaxial cable which are capable of transmitting data at speeds of up to 2 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
Computer
Portable, desktop and dedicated computers, and items such as pocket computers or 'personal organisers' which can be plugged into larger computers, are considered to be computers if they are usually in working order.
Computer access (Computer use)
This refers to use of a computer in the 12 months prior to interview.
Dial-up connections
Connection to the Internet via modem and dial-up software utilising the public switched telecommunication network (PSTN).
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
More properly referred to as ADSL as this covers several digital technologies (e.g. asymmetric DSL or ADSL and Symmetric DSL or SDSL) for fast two-way data connections over the public switched telecommunication network (PSTN).
Employed
See Labour force status.
Gigabit (Gb)
A data unit of 1,000,000,000 bits and equates to 1,024 megabits.
Gigabyte (GB)
A data unit of 1,073,741, 824 bytes and equates to 1,024 megabytes.
Gigabits per second (Gbps)
A data transfer speed measurement for high speed networks.
Highest educational attainment
Identifies the highest achievement a person has attained in any area of study. It is not a measurement of the relative importance of different fields of study, but a ranking of qualifications and other educational attainments regardless of the particular area of study or the type of institution at which the study was undertaken.
Household
A group of one or more persons in a private dwelling who consider themselves to be separate from other persons (if any) in the dwelling, and who make regular provision to take meals separately from other persons, i.e. at other times or in different rooms. Lodgers who receive accommodation but not meals are treated as separate households. Boarders who receive both accommodation and meals are not treated as separate households. A household may consist of any number of family and non-family members.
Household income
Household income is the sum of personal income from all members of the household aged 18 years and over.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)
A digit access technique for both voice and data. Digital alternative to an analogue public switched telephone service (PSTN) and carries data or voltages consisting of discrete steps or levels, as opposed to continuously variable analog data. ISDN enables digital transmission over the PSTN.
Internet
A facility that enables the user to access a wide range of information facilities, home pages or websites and allows users to send and receive electronic mail (email) messages.
Internet access (Internet use)
This refers to the use of the Internet in the 12 months prior to the interview. It includes access via mobile phones, set-top boxes connected to either an analogue or digital television, and games machines.
Kilobit (Kb)
A data unit of 1,024 bits and generally abbreviated as kb or kbit. Data speeds are generally referred to in kilobits (kbps) rather than kilobytes.
Kilobyte (KB)
A data unit of 1,024 bytes and generally abbreviated as KB or Kbyte.
Kilobits per second (Kbps)
A measure of data transfer rate. A unit of data transfer that equates to 1000 bits per second.
Labour force status
A classification of the civilian population aged 18 years and over into employed, unemployed or not in the labour force.
An employed household is defined as having at least one employed person living there.
Employed persons are aged 18 years and over who, during the reference week:
- worked for one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind, in a job or business or on a farm (comprising employees, employers and own account workers); or
- worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm (i.e. contributing family workers).
Employed are also defined as employees who had a job but were not at work and were:
- away from work for less than four weeks up to the end of the reference week; or
- away from work for more than four weeks up to the end of the reference week and received pay for some or all of the four week period to the end of the reference week; or
- away from work as a standard work or shift arrangement; or
- on strike or locked out; or
- on workers’ compensation and expected to be returning to their job; or
- were employers or own account workers, who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.
An unemployed household is defined as having at least one unemployed person living there.
Unemployed persons are defined as those who had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks up to the end of the reference week and:
- were available for work in the reference week; or
- were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week, and could have started in the reference week if the job had been available then.
A household not in the labour force is defined as having at least one person not in the labour force living there.
Persons not in the labour force are aged 18 years and over who were not employed or unemployed, as defined. They include persons who were keeping house (unpaid) and persons who are retired, voluntarily inactive, or permanently unable to work.
Major Statistical region
Equates to Brisbane Major Statistical Region (MSR) and Balance of Queensland MSR.
Brisbane MSR includes the statistical regions of:
- Brisbane City Inner Ring
- Brisbane City Outer Ring
- South and East Brisbane Statistical Division (BSD) Balance
- North and West BSD Balance
Balance of Queensland MSR includes any area outside the Brisbane MSR.
For more detail refer to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Megabit (Mb)
A data unit of 1,048,576 bits, sometimes interpreted as 1 million bits. Faster speeds are generally referred to in megabits rather than megabytes.
Megabyte (MB)
A data unit of 1,048,576 bytes, sometimes interpreted as 1 million bytes.
Microwave
Wireless transmission at very high frequency used to send and deliver audio and video signals through transmitters and receivers that must be aligned within sight of each other.
Mobile phone
Refers to a device which behaves as a normal telephone whilst being able to move over a wide area (compared with a cordless phone which acts as a telephone only within a limited range). Mobile phones allow connections to be made to the telephone network, normally by directly dialling the other party's number on an inbuilt keypad.
Modem
A device which connects the computer to a telephone system enabling communication between two computers.
Non Dial-up connections
Refers to permanent and 'always on' connections to the Internet via a variety of technologies including Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL), Cable, Wireless, Satellite, dedicated data service, frame relay, etc.
Not in the labour force
See Labour force status.
Person income
Refers to Gross Personal income from all sources and includes government pensions/benefits, workers compensation, royalties, rent, etc. It excludes money from the sale of assets, gambling, lottery wins, gifts, bequests or lump sum settlements.
Satellite
A satellite stationed in geosynchronous orbit that acts as a microwave relay station, receiving signals sent from a ground based station, amplifying them, and re-transmitting them on different frequency to another ground-based station. Satellites can be used for high-speed transmission for computer data.
Socio-demographic characteristics
Includes variables such as sex, age, education, income, and labour force status.
Software
Computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software.
Unemployed
See Labour force status.
Print Page
Print All