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GLOSSARY

Accounts with financial institutions

Current balances of the accounts held with banks or any other financial institutions e.g. credit unions, building societies, insurance companies, finance companies. Examples of types of accounts include: passbook, statement, cheque or term deposit accounts.

Assets

An entity of a financial or non-financial nature, owned by the household or its members, and from which economic benefits may be derived by holding or use over a period of time.

Balance of state

That part of each Australian state or territory not defined as capital city. Balance of state estimates for Northern Territory are regarded as too unreliable to publish separately since they exclude collection districts defined as very remote or Indigenous Communities which account for a significant portion of the population. All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this publication.

Bond

A bond is a certificate of ownership of a specified portion of a debt. May be issued by a government agency or private corporation to individuals or companies and usually bears a fixed interest rate of return on investment.

Children's assets

Any assets owned by children in the household that are not included in the value of the household contents. These assets can be financial (e.g. a child's bank accounts, assets held in trusts, bonds, debenture stock) or can be non-financial such as jewellery or property held in trust for the children.

Capital cities

Australia's six state capital city statistical divisions and the Darwin statistical division. For the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas.

Collection district

The Census Collection District (CD) is the smallest geographic area defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0).

Contents of dwelling

This is a non-financial asset and comprises an estimated value of household contents. Examples include: clothing, jewellery, hobby collections, furniture, paintings and works of art, soft furnishings and electrical appliances other than fixtures such as stoves and built-in items.

Couple family with dependent children

One family household consisting of a couple with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals.

Couple

Two people in a registered or de facto marriage, who usually live in the same household.

Credit card debt

The amount owing on the respondent's latest credit card account statement (including any government, interest or financial institution charges), irrespective of whether it was paid off by the due date. Includes amounts owing on specialised retail shopping cards as well as general credit cards such as Visa, Mastercard and Bankcard.

Debenture

A debenture is a formal acknowledgement of indebtedness by a company. Interest is paid by the company at specific intervals. A loan or deposit can be called a debenture if it is secured over company assets. Unlike shareholders, debenture holders have a creditor relationship with the company. Instead of dividends, debenture holders receive interest on their debentures which is accounted for by the company as an expense.

Decile

Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into 10 equal groups, each comprising 10% of the estimated population.

Dependent children

All persons aged under 15 years; and people aged 15-24 years who are full-time students, have a parent in the household and do not have a partner or child of their own in the household.

Dwelling

Defined as a suite of rooms contained within a building which are self-contained and intended for long-term residential use.  To be self-contained the suite of rooms must possess cooking and bathing facilities as building fixtures.  Examples of types of dwelling include: separate house; semi-detached, row or terrace house or townhouse; flat, unit, or apartment; and other dwellings, including caravan, cabin, houseboat, and house or flat attached to a shop. 

Disposable income

Gross income after income tax and the Medicare levy are deducted and family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is added. Income tax and the Medicare levy are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Family tax benefit is estimated on the basis of reductions in pay-as-you-go tax payments, as reported in the survey, or imputed on the basis of each family's income and composition. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income.

Employed persons

Persons aged 15 years and over who, during the week before the interview:

• worked one hour or more for pay, profit, commission or payment in kind in a job or business, or on a farm (includes employees, employers and own account workers)
• worked one hour or more, without pay, in a family business or on a family farm, or
• had a job, business or farm but was not at work because of holidays, sickness or other reason.

An employed person who, for most of his/her working hours:

• works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages or salary, or is paid a retainer fee by his/her employer and works on a commission basis, or works for an employer for tips, piece-rates or payment in kind, or
• operates his or her own incorporated enterprise with or without hiring employees.

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.

Equivalised disposable household income

Disposable household income adjusted using an equivalence scale. For a lone person household it is equal to disposable household income. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the disposable household income that would need to be received by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For further information see Appendix 3 in Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2003-04 (cat. no. 6523.0).

Family

Two or more people, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are related by blood, marriage (registered or de facto), adoption, step or fostering and who usually live in the same household. A separate family is formed for each married couple, or for each set of parent-child relationships where only one parent is present.

Family composition of household

Classifies households into three broad groupings based on the number of families present (one family, multiple family and non-family). One family households are further disaggregated according to the type of family (such as couple family or one parent family) and according to whether or not dependent children are present. Non-family households are disaggregated into lone person households and group households.

Financial assets

An asset whose value arises not from its physical existence (as would a building, piece of land, or capital equipment) but from a contractual relationship. Financial assets are mostly financial claims (with the exception of shares). Financial claims entitle the owner to receive a payment, or a series of payments, from an institutional unit to which the owner has provided funds. Examples include accounts held with financial institutions, ownership of an incorporated business, debentures and bonds, trusts, superannuation funds, and loans to other persons.

Full-time student

A person 15 years or over who is classified as a full-time student by the institution they attend, or considers himself/herself to be a full-time student. Full-time study does not preclude employment.

Government pensions and allowances

Income support payments from the Australian government to persons under social security and related government programs. Included are pensions and allowances received by aged, disabled, unemployed and sick persons, families and children, veterans or their survivors, and study allowances for students. Sometimes referred to as government benefit transfers. The one-off payment to seniors paid in 2000-01 and the one-off payments to families and carers paid in 2003-04 are included. Family tax benefit is also regarded as income, although for practical reasons family tax benefit paid through the tax system or as a lump sum by Centrelink is only included under disposable income, and not gross income. All overseas pensions and benefits are included here, although some may not be paid by overseas governments.

Gross income

Regular cash receipts before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted.

Group household

A household consisting of two or more unrelated people where all people are aged 15 years and over. There are no reported couple relationships, parent-child relationships or other blood relationships in these households.

Household

A group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same dwelling and make common provision for food and other essentials of living; or a lone person who makes provision for his or her own food and other essentials of living without combining with any other person.

Income

Regular and recurring cash receipts including monies received from wages and salaries, government pensions and allowances, and other regular receipts such as superannuation, workers' compensation, child support, other transfers from other households, scholarships, profit or loss from own unincorporated business or partnership and investment income. Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax or the Medicare levy are deducted. Other measures of income are disposable income and equivalised disposable income. Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers.

Incorporated business

An incorporated business is a company that has a registered business name with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and a legal status which is separate to that of the individual owners of the business.

Investment loan

A loan taken out for the purpose of financing investment, excluding loans for business purposes and rental property.

Labour force status

Classifies all people aged 15 years and over according to whether they were employed, unemployed or not in the labour force.

Landlord type

For renters, the type of entity to whom rent is paid or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made. Landlords belong to one of the following categories:

• state/territory housing authority - where the household pays rent to a state or territory housing authority or trust
• private landlord - where the household pays rent to a real estate agent or to another person not in the same household
• other - where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere.

A liability is an obligation which requires one unit (the debtor) to make a payment or a series of payments to the other unit (the creditor) in certain circumstances specified in a contract between them.

Loan

A form of liability that is created when creditors lend funds directly to debtors. Examples are an overdraft from a bank, money lent by a building society with a mortgage over a property as collateral, and personal loans.

Loans for owner occupied dwelling

Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase, build, alter, or make additions to the selected dwelling. Includes money borrowed for a deposit on the selected dwelling, and bridging finance taken out until such time as a loan or mortgage is obtained or the dwelling is bought outright. Where only a proportion of a loan is used for the owner occupied dwelling, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included.

Lone person household

A household consisting of a person living alone.

Mean income

Mean (or average) income is the total income of a group of units divided by the number of units in the group.

Mean net worth

Mean (or average) net worth is the total net worth of a group of units divided by the number of units in the group.

Median income

That level of income which divides the units in a group into two equal parts, one half having income above the median and the other half having income below the median.

Median net worth

That level of net worth which divides the units in a group into two equal parts, one half having net worth above the median and the other half having net worth below the median.

Medicare levy

Medicare is Australia’s universal health care system. For more information refer to <http://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au>

Multiple family household

A household containing two or more families. Unrelated individuals may also be present.

Negative income

Income may be negative when a loss accrues to a household. Losses can accrue to owners of unincorporated enterprises or rental properties. Losses occur when operating expenses and depreciation are greater than gross receipts.

Negative net worth

Net worth may be negative when household liabilities exceed household assets.

Net worth

Net worth represents the difference between the value of household assets (both financial and non-financial) and the value of household liabilities. Net worth is positive when the value of a household's assets exceeds the value of its liabilities. Net worth is negative when household liabilities exceed household assets. For further information refer to the Explanatory Notes.

Non-dependent children

All people aged 15 years and over who:

• do not have a spouse or offspring of their own in the household
• have a parent in the household, and
• are not full-time students aged 15-24 years.

Consists of unrelated people only. A non-family household can be either a person living alone or a group household.

Non-financial assets

Non-financial assets are all assets other than financial assets. Examples include residential and non-residential property, household contents and vehicles.

Not in the labour force

Persons not in the categories employed or unemployed as defined.

One family household

A household containing only one family. Unrelated individuals may also be present.

One parent family with dependent children

A one family household comprising a lone parent with at least one dependent child. The household may also include non-dependent children, other relatives and unrelated individuals.

Other income

Income other than wages and salaries, own business or partnership income and government pensions and allowances. This includes income received as a result of ownership of financial assets (interest, dividends), and of non-financial assets (rent, royalties) and other regular receipts from sources such as superannuation, child support, workers' compensation and scholarships. Income from rent is net of operating expenses and depreciation and may be negative when these are greater than gross receipts.

Other landlord type

Where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere.

Other one family household

A household comprising:

• one couple with their non-dependent children only
• one couple, with or without non-dependent children, plus other relatives
• one couple, with or without non-dependent children or other relatives, plus unrelated individuals
• a lone parent with his/her non-dependent children, with or without other relatives and unrelated individuals or
• two or more related individuals where the relationship is not a couple relationship or a parent-child relationship (e.g. two brothers).

Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase, build, alter, or make additions to property rented out, loans taken out by people in rental properties who are buying or building a home somewhere else, and loans taken for alterations and additions to other property. Where only a proportion of a loan is used for the property, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included.

Other tenure type

A household which is not an owner, with or without a mortgage, or a renter. Includes rent free.

Own account worker

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

Own unincorporated business income

The profit/loss that accrues to persons as owners of, or partners in, unincorporated enterprises. Profit/loss consists of the value of gross output of the enterprise after the deduction of operating expenses (including depreciation). Losses occur when operating expenses are greater than gross receipts and are treated as negative income.

Owner (of dwelling)

A household in which at least one member owns the dwelling. Owners are divided into two classifications - owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner without a mortgage. Owners without a mortgage can be referred to as outright owners, and owners with a mortgage as mortgagees.

Percentile

When all households or people in the population are ranked from the lowest to the highest on the basis of some characteristic such as their household income or net worth, they can then be divided into equal sized groups. Division into 100 groups gives percentiles. The highest value of the characteristic in the tenth percentile is denoted P10. The median or the top of the 50th percentile is denoted P50. P20, P80 and P90 denote the highest values in the 20th, 80th and 90th percentiles. Ratios of values at the top of selected percentiles, such as P90/P10, are often called percentile ratios.  See also Percentile ratios.

Percentile ratios

Percentile ratios summarise the relative distance between two points in a distribution. To illustrate the full spread of the net worth distribution, the percentile ratio needs to refer to points near the extremes of the distribution, for example, the P90/P10 ratio. The P80/P20 ratio better illustrates the magnitude of the range within which the net worth of the majority of households falls. The P80/P50 and P20/P50 ratios focus on comparing the ends of the income distribution with the midpoint. 

Principal source of income

That source from which the most positive income is received. If total income is nil or negative the principal source is undefined. As there are several possible sources, the principal source may account for less than 50% of total income.

Private income

Regular, recurring receipts from private organisations, including superannuation, regular workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, scholarships and child support.

Property

All residential and non-residential properties owned by persons in the household, excluding properties owned by the respondent's business.

Quintiles

Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population.

Reference person

The reference person for each household is chosen by applying, to all household members aged 15 years and over, the selection criteria below, in the order listed, until a single appropriate reference person is identified:

• one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, with dependent children
• one of the partners in a registered or de facto marriage, without dependent children
• a lone parent with dependent children
• the person with the highest income
• the eldest person.

Relative standard error (RSE)

The standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate for which it was calculated. It is a measure which is independent of both the size of the sample, and the unit of measurement and as a result, can be used to compare the reliability of different estimates. The smaller an estimate's RSE, the more likely it is that the estimate is a good proxy for that which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed.

Renter

A household which pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See further classification by Landlord type.

Selected dwelling

The private dwelling selected in the sample for the survey. See the Explanatory Notes for details of types of dwellings and how they are selected for this survey.

Shares

A share is a contract between the issuing company and the owner of the share which gives the latter an interest in the management of the corporation and the right to participate in profits. In this publication the "value of shares" excludes the value of shares held by individuals in their own incorporated business. Such shares are included in "value of own incorporated business".

Significant person

Significant persons are defined as follows:

• all members of a lone person or couple only household
• all parents in a couple with children household or a single parent household
• the persons aged 15 years or over in an unrelated persons household where one person is aged 15 years or over and the other members of the household are less than 15 years old
• 50% of the persons aged 15 years and over in all other households.

A measure of the likely difference between estimates obtained in a sample survey and estimates which would have been obtained if the whole population had been surveyed. The magnitude of the standard error associated with any survey is a function of sample design, sample size and population variability.

Statistical division

The largest spatial unit within each state/territory in the main structure of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0).

Study loans

Study loans are debts incurred under HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme), SFSS (Student Financial Supplement Scheme), and other government higher education schemes. A feature of these loans is that the obligation to repay them only exists when the student's income exceeds a threshold. The debt is also extinguished upon death.

Superannuation

A long-term savings arrangement which operates primarily to provide income for retirement.

Tenure type

The nature of a household's legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Tenure is determined according to whether the household owns the dwelling outright, owns the dwelling but has a mortgage or loan secured against it, is paying rent to live in the dwelling or has some other arrangement to occupy the dwelling.

Trusts

Any type of managed fund which involves the pooling of investors' money in order for a trustee or professional manager to administer that fund. Examples include listed and unlisted public unit trusts, cash management trusts and property trusts.

Unemployed persons

Persons aged 15 years and over who were not employed during the week before the interview, had actively looked for full-time or part-time work at any time in the four weeks before the interview and

• were available for work in the week before the interview, or
• were waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the interview and would have started in the week before the interview if the job had been available then.

A business in which the owner(s) and the business are the same legal entity, so that, for example, the owner(s) are personally liable for any business debts that are incurred.

Vehicles

Vehicles include registered and unregistered vehicles used for private purposes including cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, caravans, aircraft, boats and bicycles.

Vehicle loans

Principal outstanding on loans used to purchase motor vehicles. Where only a proportion of a loan is used to purchase a vehicle, only that proportion of the principal outstanding is included.

Wages and salaries

The gross cash income received as a return to labour from an employer or from a person's own incorporated business.

Wealth

See net worth.