Actively looked for work
Specific steps taken by job seekers to find work. Actively looked for work includes: written, telephoned or applied to an employer; had an interview with an employer for work; answered an advertisement for a job; checked or registered with an employment agency; taken steps to purchase or start your own business; advertised or tendered for work; and contacted friends or relatives to find work. The reference period for these steps is the four week period prior to interview.
The data item 'active steps taken to find work' is not directly referenced in the Labour Force Survey (LFS) main publications. It is collected in the LFS to help determine if a person is unemployed. To be classified as unemployed a person must be without work, actively looking for work, and available to work. More information can be found in Labour Statistics: Concepts Sources and Methods.
Actual hours worked
See 'Hours actually worked'.
Age
A person’s age at their last birthday at the time they responded to the survey. The civilian population aged 15 years and over is in scope of the LFS, however some data items are only presented for persons aged 15-24 years. Certain characteristics by five or ten year age groups are available in some prepared tables.
| Data Item | Tables |
|---|---|
| 15 years and over presented in 5 and 10 year age groups up to 65 years and over group | Labour Force, Australia Datacube GM1 Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Tables 01, 20a, 23b, 29b Datacubes LM1, LM5, LQ1, LQ2, EQ12, EQ13, EM1a, EM2a, EM3a, EM4a, EM5a, FM2 |
| 15 years and over presented in 5 and 10 year age groups up to 85 years and over group | Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Datacube LM9 |
| 15 years and over presented in 10 year age groups up to 65 years and over group | Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 14d Datacubes UM3, RM1, NM1, EQ07a |
| 15 years and over presented in 10 year age groups up to 55 years and over group | Labour Force, Australia Tables 22, 24 |
| 15-29 year olds presented in 5 and 10 year age groups | Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 25b |
| 15-24 year olds presented in 5 year age groups | Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 03 Datacube LM3, LM3a |
| 15-24 year olds | Labour Force, Australia Tables 13, 15, 16 |
| 15-19 year olds | Labour Force, Australia Table 17 |
| 15-64 year olds | Labour Force, Australia Table 18 |
| 20-64 year olds | Labour Force, Australia, Detailed Table 24b |
Aggregate duration of job search
See 'Number of weeks searching for a job'.
Aggregate hours worked
See 'Monthly hours worked in all jobs'.
Aggregate monthly hours worked
See 'Monthly hours worked in all jobs'.
Aggregate weeks unemployed
See 'Number of weeks searching for a job'.
All jobs
Employed persons may have more than one job. All jobs data items are about all the work that an employed person undertook during the reference week, not only the work that they undertook in their main job. A person's main job is the job in which they usually work the most number of hours.
Attending full-time education
Persons aged 15-24 years enrolled at secondary or high school or enrolled as a full-time student at a Technical and Further Education (TAFE) college, university, or other educational institution in the reference week.
See 'Educational attendance (full-time)'.
Attending full-time tertiary educational institution
Persons aged 15-24 years enrolled full-time at a TAFE college, university, or other educational institution in the reference week, except those persons aged 15-19 years who were still attending school.
See 'Educational attendance (full-time)'.
Attending school
Persons aged 15-19 years enrolled at secondary or high school in the reference week.
See 'Educational attendance (full-time)'.
Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO)
See 'Occupation'.
Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)
See 'Industry'.
Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
See 'Geography'.
Available to work
Includes persons who were available to work in the reference week, or waiting to start a new job within four weeks from the end of the reference week (and could have started work in the reference week if the job had been available then).
The data item 'available to work' is not directly referenced in LFS main publications. It is collected in the LFS to help determine if a person is unemployed. To be classified as unemployed a person must be without work, actively looking for work, and available to work. More information can be found in Labour Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods.