The following terms are used to discuss skills issues and are bookmarked to their definitions:
The Industries page on the SkillsInfo website refers to links relating to 17 Industry Divisions. These Industry Divisions have been defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification 1993 (ANZSIC 1993), which provides detailed definitions of each industry down to a four digit level of subdivisions. There are 17 Industry Divisions classified from A to Q, and each Industry Division is divided into Sub-divisions at the 2 digit level, which are in turn divided into Industry Groups at the 3 digit level, and then into Industry Classes at the 4 digit level. The SkillsInfo website does not go down to this level, but remains at the Division level (Single digit or alphabet digit level).
The ABS defines an industry as a group of businesses or organisations that perform similar sets of activities in terms of the production of goods and services. Industry is classified according to ANZSIC 1993 (cat. no. 1292). The industry assigned to an employed person is the industry of the organisation in which the person's main job is located. Unemployed persons who had worked for two weeks or more in the last two years are classified according to the industry of their most recent job.
The Industry Divisions are as below. SkillsInfo may use abbreviated industry titles to facilitate graph presentations.
A comprehensive suite of industry employment data, for ANZSIC 1 digit and 3 digit industries (2 digit for manufacturing) is available on the Industry Profiles page of the SkillsInfo website.
Division A - Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
Division B - Mining
Division C - Manufacture
Division D - Electricity, Gas and Water Supply
Division E - Construction
Division F - Wholesale Trade
Division G - Retail Trade
Division H - Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants
Division I - Transport and Storage
Division J - Communication Services
Division K - Finance and Insurance
Division L - Property and Business Services
Division M - Government Administration and Defence
Division N - Education
Division O - Health and Community Services
Division P - Cultural and Recreational Services
Division Q - Personal and Other Services
The ANZSIC 1993 classification definitions can be found on the ABS website.
The ANZSIC classification was revised in 2006. Details of the new classification can be found on the ABS website. A diagramatic representation of the new ANZSIC 06 structure in the form of a power point presentation is also available.
The following terms are used to describe the labour force:
Skill level is a function of the range and complexity of the set of tasks involved. The greater the range and complexity of the set of tasks, the greater the skill level of the occupation. The criteria used in ASCO Second Edition to measure skill level are the formal education and/or training and previous experience usually required for entry to the occupation.
Skill specialisation of an occupation is a function of the field of knowledge required, tools and equipment used, materials worked on, and goods or services produced in relation to the tasks performed. Skill specialisation is used to group occupations according to type, rather than level of skill.
Generally, skill is taken to mean an ability to perform a task at the required level of competence, but also connotes a dimension of increasing ability (that is, a hierarchy of skill). Skills therefore go hand in hand with knowledge.
When applied to individuals, the term ‘skill’ usually denotes knowledge or ability, both of which are more or less acquired by people through education, training and experience at work. Skill may also refer to the requirements of a job, in which case it is best viewed as a property of the task rather than the individual.
Generally there are four dimensions of skills:
motor skills: for example, the degree of manual dexterity;
perceptual skills: sensing, measuring and judging;
conceptual skills: abstracting: calculating and inferring; and
discretionary skills: decision making and responsibility.
In addition to the above, skills are also classified as either general or specific, with general skills assumed to be transferable or portable across a wide array of occupations. These may include basic literacy and numeracy skills, interpersonal skills, reliability, working in teams and so on. Specific skills on the other hand are more industry, occupation or enterprise specific. One problem encountered in the conceptualising of skill is the distinction which is frequently made between ‘technical’ skills and ‘employability’ skills. For Australia, employability skills have been defined.
SkillsInfo uses the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relation (DEEWR) administrative Labour Market Regions (LMRs) for the regional structure. There are 19 LMRs, as outlined below. The order of the LMRs starts with Queensland and moves clockwise around Australia. There are 137 Employment Service Areas (ESAs) contained within the LMRs, and details are available in the spreadsheet.
- Queensland
- Brisbane
- Central and Northern QLD
- Southern Queensland
- New South Wales
- Sydney
- Hunter and North Coast (NSW)
- Illawarra and SE NSW
- Riverina
- Western NSW
- Australian Capital Territory
- Victoria
- Melbourne
- Eastern Victoria
- Western Victoria
- Tasmania
- South Australia
- Adelaide
- South Australia Country
- Western Australia
- Perth
- Greater Western Australia
- Southern Western Australia
- Northern Territory
SkillsInfo includes links to the Labour Market Information Portal (LMIP) on the Australian Workplace website. The LMIP uses ABS Labour Force Regions (LFRs) for labour market information, sourced from the ABS, and LMRs and ESAs for administrative data. The Labour Force Region Data section of the site contains key labour market indicators as well as employment levels for industry and occupation. The Labour Force Region data is presented at four different levels, the national level, the state and territory level, the metro level and the Labour Force Region level.
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