Socio-economic outcome area 8

Strong economic participation and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities

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Contextual information

Employment by occupation

Data tables appear under figures

Measure 1

Proportion of people aged 25-64 years who are employed, by occupation

Nationally in 2021, the occupation contributing most to the employment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was community or personal service worker (reported by 9.5% of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people), followed by professional (with 9.1%). Since the 2016 baseline year the employment rate has increased for all occupations groups, with the largest increase for managers (1.3 percentage points).

Across states and territories in 2021, the occupations with the greatest variation in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people reporting being employed were professional (ranging from 6.8 to 18.9%) and managers (three to 13.6%) (figure SE8d.1).

Indicator data specifications

Indicator SE8d: Employment by occupation

Related outcome:

Strong economic participation and development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities.

Related target:

By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–64 who are employed to 62%.

Indicator:

Employment by occupation

Measure:

The measure is defined as:

Numerator – number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25–64 years who are employed, by occupation

Denominator – total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the population aged 25–64 years

and is presented as a percentage.

Indicator established:

National Agreement on Closing the Gap July 2020

Latest dashboard update for the indicator:

8 March 2023

Indicator type:

Contextual information

Interpretation of change:

A high or increasing proportion employed in an occupation is desirable, if not accompanied by equivalent decreases in other occupation types.

Data source:

Name: ABS Census of Population and Housing, Census Table Builder (Basic)

Frequency: Five-yearly

Documentation (links): www.abs.gov.au/census

Data provider:

Provider name: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Provider area: Census

Baseline year:

2016

Latest reporting period:

2021

Disaggregations:

State and territory and Australia, by Indigenous status.

Computation:

Numerator divided by Denominator multiplied by 100.

Counting rules

The data is for all Australian residents enumerated in the Census that reported having a usual residence in Australia.

Geographical variables are based on a person’s place of usual residence.

Occupation variables are coded using the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2 (cat. no. 1220.0) (ANZSCO) (at the major, one‑digit, level). The occupation code assigned to a response is based on the occupation title and tasks of the main job held during the week prior to Census night.

Includes (both numerator and denominator):

  • people who were employed full‑time (worked 35 hours or more), part‑time, or who were employed but were away from work (did not work any hours in the week prior to Census night or did not state their number of hours worked)
  • Australian total includes Other Territories
  • people for whom occupation was ‘inadequately described’ or ‘not stated’.

Excludes (both numerator and denominator):

  • people for whom labour force status was ‘not stated’ or unknown or inadequately described
  • overseas visitors
  • people for whom Indigenous status was not stated.

Extraction

Census Table Builder (Basic) – Employment, Income and Education: INGP X Main ASGS (UR) X LFSP X AGE5P X OCCP (one‑digit level)

Data quality considerations:

  • Data values have been randomly adjusted using perturbation to avoid the release of confidential data.

Future reporting:

Additional disaggregations required for future reporting:

  • remoteness areas
  • socio‑economic status of the locality
  • disability status
  • gender
  • age group
  • level of education
  • type of employment – part‑time versus full‑time.

The Productivity Commission acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures, Country and Elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices or names of people who have passed away.