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GLOSSARY

Centrelink

Centrelink is a statutory authority responsible for delivering a range of Australian government services, including registering of people for job search assistance and income support.

Contributing family worker

A person who works without pay in an economic enterprise operated by a relative.

Duration of insufficient work

The duration of insufficient work is the length of time underemployed workers have been working less than 35 hours a week. As periods of insufficient work are recorded in full weeks and rounded down, this results in a slight understatement of duration.

Economic reasons

Economic reasons for full-time workers having worked less than 35 hours in the reference week include:

• there was no work or not enough work available, e.g. due to material shortages
• they were stood down
• they were on short time.

People aged 15 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); or
• were 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 return to their job; or
• were employers or own account workers who had a job, business or farm, but were not at work.

A person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, a retainer fee from their employer while working on a commission basis, tips, piece-rates, or payment in kind; or a person who operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.

Employer

A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees.

Full-time workers

Employed people who usually worked 35 hours or more a week (in all jobs) or others who, although usually worked less than 35 hours a week, worked 35 hours or more during the reference week.

Fully employed workers

Employed people who:

• worked full time during the reference week (including people who usually work part time but worked full time in the reference week); or
• usually work full time but worked less than 35 hours in the reference week for non-economic reasons (such as illness or injury, leave holiday or flextime, or personal reasons); or
• part-time workers who would not prefer to work additional hours.

The civilian population aged 15 years and over can be split into two mutually exclusive groups: the labour force (employed and unemployed people) and persons not in the labour force.

Labour force underutilisation rate

The unemployed plus the underemployed, expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Level of highest educational attainment

Level of 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 in which the study was undertaken. See Appendix 1 for an explanation of how highest level is derived.

Looking for work with more hours

Looked for work with more hours at some time during the four weeks up to the end of the reference week.

Mean duration of insufficient work

The mean duration of insufficient work is obtained by dividing the aggregate number of weeks a group has had insufficient work by the number of people in that group.

Mean preferred number of extra hours

The mean preferred number of extra hours is obtained by dividing the total preferred number of extra hours reported by a group by the number of people in that group.

Median duration of insufficient work

The median duration of insufficient work is obtained by dividing underemployed workers into two equal groups, one comprising people whose duration of insufficient work is above the median, and the other comprising people whose duration is below it.

Non-economic reasons

Non-economic reasons for full-time workers having worked less than 35 hours in the reference week include:

• holiday, flextime or study leave
• own illness or injury or sick leave
• standard work arrangements, shift work or rostered day(s) off
• on strike, locked out or took part in an industrial dispute
• bad weather or plant breakdown
• began, left or lost job during the reference week
• personal reasons.

A person who operates his or her own unincorporated economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires no employees.

Part-time workers

Employed people who usually worked less than 35 hours a week (in all jobs) and either did so during the reference week, or were not at work during the reference week.

Preferred number of extra hours

The number of extra hours a week an underemployed worker would have preferred to work.

Preferred total number of hours

The total number of hours per week an underemployed worker would prefer to work.

Reference week

The week preceding the week in which the interview was conducted.

Status in employment

Employed people classified by whether they were employees, employers, own account workers, or contributing family workers.

Steps taken to find work with more hours

All steps taken to find work with more hours during the four weeks up to the end of the reference week.

Underemployed workers

Underemployed workers are employed people who would prefer, and are available for, more hours of work than they currently have. They comprise:

• part-time workers who would prefer to work more hours and were available to start work with more hours, either in the reference week or in the four weeks subsequent to the survey
• full-time workers who worked part-time hours in the reference week for economic reasons (such as being stood down or insufficient work being available). It is assumed that these people would prefer to work full time in the reference week and would have been available to do so.

The number of underemployed workers expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Unemployment rate

The number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force.

Usual number of hours

The number of hours usually worked in a week.