Australian Bureau Of Statistics

New Analysis Of The Australian Workforce From 2011-16

Victor P Taffa

New analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data shows that unemployed Australians who moved regions were more likely to be employed (64 %) compared with those who stayed in the same region (57 %).

ABS has released a series of interactive maps which track employment status and allow users to identify how many people in a particular region were employed in 2011 compared with 5 years later; how many moved to other regions in Australia and their employment status at this time.

ABS Data Integration Partnerships Program Manager, Celia Moss, said the maps offered new insights by allowing users to choose a particular region and explore in depth the employment status of people who moved out of that region and those who stayed.

“We have looked at longitudinal Census data over 5 years to look at the employment status of people who move region compared to those who do not.” Ms. Moss said.

“It has also allowed us to burrow down deeper. Using New South Wales as an example, we know that in 2011 there were 61,000 unemployed people living outside the Greater Sydney area. By 2016, half the 53,000 who stayed in the region were employed, while in contrast two thirds of the 3,000 people who moved to Greater Sydney were employed.”

Mobility of the employed population can also be explored.

“Taking a look at the employed people living in the Greater Melbourne area in 2011, we know 94 % were living in this same region in 2016 and 88 % of them were employed in 2016.” Ms. Moss said.

“Of those 42,000 people who had moved from Greater Melbourne to regional Victoria by 2016, around 80 % were employed.”

“Overall, almost 60 % of those unemployed in 2011 were employed in 2016. These workers were more likely to be full-time than part-time, particularly if they moved regions. Nearly 60 % of employed people in 2016 who had moved regions were full-time and 35 % were part-time.” Ms. Moss said.