6310.0 - Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, Aug 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/02/2002   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

MEDIA RELEASE

February 28, 2002
Embargoed 11:30am (AEST)
18/2002

Employee earnings continue to increase

Estimates for 2001 have been revised since the release of the 2001 publication. Details of the revision and the impact on the estimates can be found in the attached file: Changes to EEBTUM_2001 & 2002.pdf. Revised data can be found in the data cube 63100_2001_revised.xls. The revised data in the data cube should be used in place of the data in the 2001 publication and media release. The Explanatory Notes, Technical Notes and Glossary to accompany the 2001 data can be found in the attached file: 63100 Exp Notes, Tech notes & Glossary_2001.pdf.

In 2002 a new method was used to determine full-time/part-time status in main job. Details of the change in method and the impact on the estimates can be found in the attached file: Changes to EEBTUM_2001 & 2002.pdf. For comparison purposes, a data cube for the 2001 publication has been created using the new method to determine full-time/part-time status in main job 63100_2001_hours_based.xls for the cost of $15. The Explanatory Notes, Technical Notes and Glossary to accompany the 2001 data can be found in the attached file: 63100 Exp Notes, Tech notes & Glossary_2001.pdf.


Changes to EEBTUM_2001 & 2002.pdf(139Kb)
63100 Exp Notes, Tech notes & Glossary_2001.pdf(512Kb)


Media Release

Employees earnings continue to increase, with the average weekly earnings of employees (in all jobs) up 5% in the 12 months ending August 2001, according to results released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The August 2001 survey found average weekly earnings for all employees rose $36 to $695. This compares with $659 in 2000 and $624 in 1999.

Average weekly earnings for males (in all jobs) increased by $37 to $821 during the previous 12 months, while females recorded an increase of $34 to $550 per week. Average weekly earnings for full-time employees increased from $800 in August 2000 to $845 in August 2001, and from $282 to $308 for part-time employees.

The survey also found that 73% of employees were entitled to either paid holiday leave or paid sick leave in their main job. Other findings in relation to employees' leave entitlements include:
    • a higher proportion of part-time employees were without leave entitlements (64%) than full-time employees (12%);
    • a higher proportion of female than male employees were without leave entitlements (31% and 24% respectively).

In August 2001, 90% of employees had superannuation coverage in their main job, an increase of 11% since July 1991. Other employment benefits that employees were entitled to include: paid sick leave (72%), paid holiday leave (72%) and long service leave (62%). The proportion of employees entitled to either paid holiday or paid sick leave (73%) has declined since July 1991, when the figure was 80%.

In August 2001 there were 1,902,700 trade union members. This is a small rise on the estimated 1,901,800 trade union members in August 2000; however, as a proportion of all employees, this represents a slight fall from 24.7% to 24.5%. This continues the steady decline in the trade union membership rate from 40% in 1992.

Further details are in Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2001 (cat. no. 6310.0). The summary of the main features may be found on this site. If you wish to purchase a copy of this publication contact the ABS Bookshop in your capital city.