Australia

1.Series

Title:

Registered unemployment benefit claimants [New Start Allowance (NSA) or Youth Allowance (other) (YA(o)].

Starting year:

1940.

2.Agency making the initial registrations of unemployed persons

Name of the agency:

Centrelink.

Type of agency:

Public service under a national authority.

Name of the national authority:

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS).

Location of the local offices making the registrations:

Centrelink have offices in 400 locations throughout Australia.

Type of services provided/administered by the agency:

  • Payment of unemployment compensation.

    3.The following information is registered about a person:

  • Name;
  • Sex;
  • Address of usual residence;
  • Date of birth;
  • Citizenship;
  • Nationality/ethnic group (non-compulsory information);
  • Educational/vocational attainment, with 16 categories distinguished (non-compulsory information);
  • Current/past activity status, with six categories distinguished;
  • Type of work (occupation) of past or present job;
  • Type of work (occupation) of job sought (non-compulsory information);
  • Name and address of present or previous employer/workplace;
  • Previous registrations with the agency/service;
  • Other: number of dependent children; marital status; housing/accommodation.

    4.Criteria used for inclusion of a person in the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Being without work, although registered job-seekers can undertake casual or part-time employment (subject to an income test) and remain qualified to receive payment (R);
  • Seeking work (R);
  • Availability for work (R);
  • Age: lower limit: 15 years; Upper limit: Age Pension age (R);
  • Residency in the country (minimum 104 weeks) (R);
  • Other: meeting the "Activity Test" requirements showing that he/she is actively looking for work (R).

    5.Criteria used for exclusion of a person from the registers (R) and/or the statistics of unemployed persons (S):

  • Death (R);
  • Taking up residency abroad (R);
  • Commencement of a (new) job, excluding part-time or casual work (R);
  • Participation in an employment promotion scheme, public works programme, etc., although participation in certain programmes, e.g. "Work for the Dole", does not affect eligibility for unemployment benefits (R);
  • Failure to contact agency/service: payment of unemployment benefits are reduced for the first and second breaches and stopped entirely for the third breach (R);
  • Refusal of suitable job offers: payment of unemployment benefits are reduced for the first and second breaches and stopped entirely for the third breach (R);
  • Refusal of suitable training offers: payment of unemployment benefits are reduced for the first and second breaches and stopped entirely for the third breach (R);
  • Receipt of a pension: Age Pension age is 65 for men and 62 for women (R);
  • Inability for work (R);
  • Other: if income/assets of claimant or spouse/partner exceed fixed limit (R); receipt of a worker's compensation or a work injury related payment (R).

    6.Definition of unemployed persons used for the statistics

    The registers are not used to produce statistics on unemployed persons. However, series are available for the count of persons receiving unemployment benefits (through the New start Allowance or a Youth Allowance). These include people in receipt of an allowance subject to the inclusions and exclusions detailed in sections 4 and 5 above.

    The NSA and YA(o) series generally count people in receipt of allowance between the ages of 15 years and 64 years in the case of men, and 15 to 61 years in the case of women.

    7.Updating of the registers

    The registers are updated fortnightly (as payments are made fortnightly).

    8.Unemployment rates

    Statistics from the registers are not used to obtain unemployment rates.

    9.Type of statistics of unemployed persons produced

    Series:

    Labour Market and Related Payments.

    Reference period:

    Month.

    Frequency of production:

    Monthly.

    Descriptive variables used:

  • Sex;
  • Age;
  • Geographic characteristics;
  • Duration of unemployment.

    Form of publication:

    On paper, for general audience.

    Agency responsible for publication:

    FaCS.

    Title and periodicity of the publication:

    Labour Market and Related Payments (monthly).

    10.Methodological information about the statistics

    Form of release:

    On paper for general audience.

    Agency responsible for the release:

    FaCS.

    11.Comparisons with unemployment statistics from other sources

    Comparisons have been made with unemployment statistics from the Labour Force Survey.

    Frequency of the comparisons:

    Occasionally (latest year: 2000).

    Publication of the methodology/results of the comparisons:

    For internal use only.

    12.Major changes since the start of the statistics

    There have been no major changes in legislation, capacity of the agency and/or administrative procedures which had a significant influence on the statistics.