Units

%pts – percentage points. This is the arithmetic difference between two percentages. For example, if the unemployment rate goes from 4% to 5% that is a 1 percentage point increase (1 %pt). Not to be confused with the percentage change or the difference as a ratio of the original percentage, which in this case, it would be a 25% increase in the unemployment rate itself.

% share – proportion of people in a given group.

Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) – a geographical area representing the largest sub-state regions in the main structure of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). SA4 regions were initially designed specifically for dissemination of ABS Labour Force Survey data, with each area representing a labour market or group of labour markets within a state or territory.

Labour market data

Population (15+) – or Civilian Population. All usual residents of Australia aged 15 years and over except:

members of the permanent defence forces
certain diplomatic personnel of overseas governments customarily excluded from census and estimated population counts
overseas residents in Australia
members of non-Australian defence forces (and their dependents) stationed in Australia.

Working age population – usual residents of Australia aged 15 to 64 years old, excluding the categories already noted under Population (15+).

Employment – the number of people aged 15 years and over classified as employed by the ABS. This includes those who:

worked for one hour or more for pay, profit or payment of any kind
worked for one hour or more without pay in a family business or on a farm
were owner-managers who were away from their work
had a job but were away from work for less than four weeks, or for more than four weeks but had received pay for some or all of the last four weeks; or
had a job but were away from work as part of a standard work or shift arrangement, because of being on strike/locked out, or on worker’s compensation and expected to return to their job.

Unemployment – The number of people aged 15 and over classified as unemployed by the ABS, by meeting the following criteria:

not already be classified as employed
available for work; and
has actively looked for work in the last four weeks or is waiting to start a job within the next four weeks and could have started in the reference week if that job was available then.

Labour force – the sum of employment and unemployment.

Not in the labour force – people who were not in categories employed or unemployed. This includes people who undertook unpaid household duties or other voluntary work only, were retired, voluntarily inactive and those permanently unable to work.

Unemployment rate – the proportion of the labour force (sum of employment and unemployment) who were unemployed. To be classified as unemployed by the ABS, a person:

must be aged 15 years and over
is not already be classified as employed
is available for work
has actively looked for work in the last four weeks
is waiting to start a job within the next four weeks
could have started in the reference week if a job was available.

Youth unemployment rate – the unemployment rate for persons aged 15 to 24 years old.

Participation rate – proportion of the civilian population aged 15 and over in the labour force (sum of employment and unemployment). The demographic structure of a region can have a significant influence on its participation rate.

Employment to population ratio – Proportion of the civilian population that is employed in the age range 15-64 years old.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes the employment to population ratio for both 15+ and 15-64 year olds. While both are of value, using a working age (15-64 years) employment rate can be particularly helpful when comparing labour market strength between regions. This is because the proportion of people aged 65 and over (the vast majority of whom are retired) can vary substantially between SA4s, which can have an impact on the 15+ employment to population ratio. By using a working age (15-64 years) employment to population ratio, the comparison focuses on the age range where people are most likely to be working and is, therefore, a better indicator of relative overall labour market performance.

Labour market rating – The Regional Labour Market Indicator (RLMI) is a single summary measure of labour market performance by combining key indicators, such as the employment rate (15-64 yo), unemployment rate, underemployment rate, JobSeeker income support rate (15-64 yo), and the job vacancy fill rate. It reflects both employee and employer perspectives to give a view of labour market performance, relative to the national average.

Industry data

ANZSIC – Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 2006 (Revision 2.0)

NFD – Codes ending in zero are described as 'not further defined' and are used to code responses which cannot be coded to the unit level of the classification but can be coded to a higher level of the classification structure.

Median weekly earnings – this is the median weekly pay for full–time employees in their main job before tax, salary sacrifice or any other deductions. These figures are a guide only and should not be used to determine a wage rate as they do not take into account years of experience or other factors that may influence a person’s wage.

Employment projections – medium term forecast of employment (5 years and 10 years from reference point) in Australia, by industry.

Active businesses – count of Australian Business Numbers (ABN) of which the entity is either an 'Australian Public Company', 'Australian Private Company', or 'Individual/Sole Trader' and has been registered by the given date or prior and has not been cancelled as of the given date.

Vacancies – quarterly survey that estimates job vacancies classified by industry.

Occupation data

ANZSCO – Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013 version 1.3

Employment – at a regional level refers to the monthly estimates of employment by occupation (Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation), whereas at a national level, this is trended data by JSA based on the Detailed Labour Force Survey, quarterly releases. Employment numbers are suppressed when the value is less than 100.

Job Advertisements (or job ads) – monthly count of online job advertisements (Internet Vacancy Index). This number is suppressed when the value is less than 5.

Job advertisement to employment ratio – the ratio of online job ads (Internet Vacancy Index) to employment (regional data from the Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation (NERO) and national data from ABS, Detailed Labour Force Survey, Table EQ08, data trended by Jobs and Skills Australia). This rate is available monthly for regional data and quarterly for national data (as per employment data availability), and if both, employment and vacancies numbers are available.

Median weekly earnings – this is the median weekly pay for full–time employees in their main job before tax, salary sacrifice or any other deductions, based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. These figures are a guide only and should not be used to determine a wage rate as they do not take into account years of experience or other factors that may influence a person’s wage.

Median hourly earnings – central value of hourly earnings within an occupation at a national level, based on ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours. These figures are a guide only and should not be used to determine a wage rate as they do not take into account years of experience or other factors that may influence a person’s wage.

Clean energy critical occupation – The Clean Energy Generation Capacity study identifies 38 occupations as critical to the clean energy workforce required for transitioning to a sustainable energy economy in achieving net zero emissions by 2050. For more detail read The Clean Energy Generation report.

Occupation Shortage List (OSL) – The Occupation Shortage List (OSL)^[1], formerly known as the Skill Priority List (SPL), provides a current rating of occupations in shortage in Australia and in each state and territory. The OSL has four ratings to classify the shortage status on a specific occupation:

Shortage (S): An occupation is in national shortage or overall shortage. This occurs when employers are unable to fill or have considerable difficulty filling vacancies for an occupation or cannot meet significant specialised skill needs within that occupation, at current levels of remuneration and conditions of employment and in reasonably accessible locations. In some cases, shortages may be apparent for specialisations within the occupation, but not for all instances of that occupation. In these cases, provided there is sufficient evidence, that occupation will still be considered in shortage.
Regional shortage (R): Shortages are restricted to regional areas.
Metro shortage (M): Shortages are restricted to metropolitan areas.
No shortage (NS): Research has not identified any significant difficulty of filling vacancies.

For some occupations, a lack of evidence will, by default, result in an occupation being rated as ‘No Shortage’.

Occupation shortage drivers – Potential reason why an occupation is in shortage. This analysis was based on unit groups (ANZSCO level 4) for which 4 primary drivers have been identified, based on the most likely cause of the shortage:

Long training gap: few qualified applicants per vacancy and a long training pathway – corresponding to a certificate III or above.
Short training gap: there are few applicants per vacancy and a qualification less than a Certificate III is required.
Suitability gap: enough qualified applicants, but they are not regarded as suitable. Reasons cited include a lack of employability skills and work experience. Another factor which may be in play is unconscious bias of employers, including employers may have unrealistic expectations of graduates and workers.
Retention gap: below average rates of retention, potentially reinforced by low numbers of new applicants per vacancy. There may be enough people with the requisite skills, qualifications and experience to fill vacancies in each unit group, but workers for these unit groups may not remain in the role long due to current working conditions.
Uncertain: There may be cases where the shortage driver of a unit group is uncertain. This may occur when unit groups do not satisfy any of the above definitions or requirements. Uncertainty can also arise when there is not enough data of sufficient quality to identify the primary driver of a shortage.

Projected employment – medium term forecast of employment (5 years and 10 years from reference point) in Australia, by occupation.

Occupational mobility – analysis of annual flows between occupations, as well as headcounts and stocks, inflows and outflows of workers by occupation.

Educational background – highest educational achievement across each 4-digit ANZSCO at census time. A level of educational attainment for a given 4-digit ANZSCO might not reflect a requirement to perform that role.

Apprentices and trainees – quarterly in-training activity, as well as commencements and completions for the latest 12 months of data available as reported by NCVER in the Apprentices and Trainees dataset. The apprentice's or trainee's enrolled-course is mapped to a 4-digit ANZSCO unit group which is considered most suitable for that course. An apprentice or trainee in a course which is mapped to a given 4-digit ANZSCO may not reflect a new member of that 4-digit ANZSCO's workforce.

Remoteness: indicates the distance the population within a town or locality must travel to reach services. This is based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus (ARIA+), produced by the Australian Centre for Housing Research at the University of Adelaide, which divides Australia into five classes of remoteness (major cities, inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote).

Higher education data

Course level – or level of education, is an indication of the complexity, length and depth of learning involved. At the broad level, higher education courses are classified in postgraduate, undergraduate, enabling and non-award courses.

The postgraduate level includes courses that lead to one or more of the next awards: graduate certificates not accredited as VET awards, graduate diplomas not accredited as VET awards, masters degree, or doctoral degree.
Undergraduate courses include diplomas not accredited as VET awards, advanced diploma not accredited as VET awards, associate degree, bachelor degree and honours program.
Enabling courses are foundation or bridging programs with the purpose of preparing students to undertake a course leading to a higher education award. Usually, these courses prepare students for undergraduate study.
Non-award study refers to enrolments in a course, subject or unit, without being enrolled in or eligible for the completion of a full degree.

Field of education – or FOE, refers to the principal subject matter of study.

Narrow field: 4-Digit code. Refers to specific areas of study within a broad field.
Detailed field: 6-Digit code. Refers to specialised areas of study within the narrow field, distinguished by methods, techniques, and tools.

VET data

VET – Vocational Education and Training

TVA – Total VET Activity. Annual mandatory reporting on student enrolments, completions and course data submitted by Registered Training Organisations.

Apprentices and trainees – quarterly in-training activity, as well as commencements and completions for the latest calendar year as reported by NCVER in the TVA dataset.

Workplace remoteness: indicates how geographically accessible a workplace is to services. This is based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus (ARIA+), produced by the Australian Centre for Housing Research at the University of Adelaide, which divides Australia into five classes of remoteness (major cities, inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote).

Cohort data

Age (labour market) – distribution of people by age group (15-24, 25-54, 55+) from the monthly Labour Force Survey.

Age (occupation) – distribution of people in an occupation by age groups of 5 years, starting from 15-19 until 65 and over, from the Census of Population and Housing based on please of usual residence.

Disability (VET and Higher Ed) – indicates whether students consider themselves to have a disability, impairment or long-term medical condition.

Education (labour market) – level of highest educational attainment of people aged 15 to 64 years who were not attending primary or secondary school at Census time.

Education level (occupation) – distribution of highest educational attainment by occupation at Census time and based on place of usual residence (this includes year 10 and below and up to post graduate degree).

Gender (VET and Higher Ed) – self-assessment response by the student. Refers to current gender, which may be different to sex recorded at birth. When gender information is collected, individuals should be given the option to select ‘Female’, ‘Male’, or ‘Indeterminate/Intersex/Unspecified’.

Indigenous (labour market) – variable from the 2021 Census recording the response of persons aged 15-64 who identified themselves as being of Australian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

Indigenous (VET and Higher Ed) – status identifier indicating students who self-identify as being of Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and is accepted as such by the community in which they live.

Median age (industry) – median age of all workers in an industry based on labour force survey data (4-quarter average).

Median age (occupation) – median age of all workers in an occupation based on labour force survey data (4-quarter average).

Sex (labour market) – refers to the biological characteristics of an individual, categorised as male or female.

[1] Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA), ‘Occupation Shortage List’, JSA website, latest release; JSA, ‘Occupation Shortage List Methodology’, JSA website, latest release.

Jobs and Skills Atlas - Cairns - Regional Industry Overview

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