Employee households recorded the strongest quarterly and annual cost of living rises due to increases in mortgage interest charges

 

“Employee households recorded the strongest quarterly and annual rises due to increases in Mortgage interest charges.” [ABS, Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia: Living Cost Indexes (LCIs) measures the price change of goods and services and its effect on living expenses of selected household types, Reference period September 2023]

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 1 November 2023, excerpt:

A significant difference between the Living Cost Indexes and the CPI is that the Living Cost Indexes include mortgage interest charges rather than the cost of building new dwellings.

Employee households were most impacted by rising mortgage interest charges, which are a larger part of their spending than for other household types.

“Mortgage interest charges rose 9.3 per cent following a 9.8 per cent rise in the June 2023 quarter. While the Reserve Bank of Australia has not increased the cash rate since July 2023, previous interest rate increases and the rollover of some expired fixed-rate to higher-rate variable mortgages resulted in another strong rise this quarter,” Ms Marquardt said.

Living costs for each of the three indexes for households whose main source of income is government payments (age pensioner, other government transfer recipient, and pensioner and beneficiary households) increased more slowly than the CPI in September quarter. The primary reason for this was a fall in their Housing costs for the quarter following the introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund rebates and changes to Commonwealth Rent Assistance. The Energy Bill Relief Fund reduced electricity bills for all households in Brisbane and Perth, and for households eligible for electricity concessions in the remaining capital cities.

From 20 September 2023, the maximum rate available for Commonwealth Rent Assistance increased by 15 per cent on top of the CPI indexation that applies twice a year, reducing out of pocket expenses for eligible households. Given the timing of these changes, the September quarter results show only a partial impact of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance changes with further impacts to come through in the December 2023 quarter.

Living costs rising fastest for employee households

Employee households also recorded the largest annual rise in living costs of all household types with a 9.0 per cent increase, down from a peak of 9.6 per cent in the June 2023 quarter.

Increasing interest rates over the year have contributed to annual living cost rises ranging from 5.3 per cent to 9.0 per cent for different household types. Most households recorded higher rises than the 5.4 per cent annual increase in the CPI.

Higher automotive fuel prices and insurance premiums also contributed to increases in annual living costs for all household types.

After employee households, other government transfer recipients recorded the next largest annual rise in living costs through to September 2023.

“Rents make up a higher proportion of spending for these households compared to other household types. Rental prices have increased over the last year reflecting strong demand and low vacancy rates across the country,” Ms Marquardt said.

AUSTRALIA EMPLOYMENT STATE OF PLAY APRIL 2023: monthly figures reveal fewer people have full time jobs & 528,000 workers are in the unemployment queue

 

The latest Labor Force Australia: Headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey was released on Thursday, 18 May 2023.

This survey reveals that:

In seasonally adjusted terms, in April 2023:

• unemployment rate increased to 3.7%.

• participation rate decreased to 66.7%.

• employment decreased to 13,882,100.

• employment to population ratio decreased to 64.2%.

• underemployment rate decreased to 6.1%.

• monthly hours worked increased to 1,974 million.

• full-time employment decreased by 27,100 to 9,726,500 people.

• part-time employment increased by 22,800 to 4,155,600 people.

So to recap:

Seasonally adjusted a total of 13.8 million workers remain in employment across Australia, with est. 4.8 million working less than 35 hours a week and 4.1 million classified as part-time employees.

 

While the national monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment figure stood at 528,000 persons and the unemployment rate at 3.7%. The gender breakdown for that number was 301,900 males (unemployment rate 4.0%) and 226,100 females (unemployment rate 3.3%). 

In NSW the monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment figure was 151,500 persons, being 85,200 males (unemployment rate 3.6%) and 66,300 females (unemployment rate 3.1%).

REGIONAL ESTIMATES COVERING THE NORTHERN RIVERS REGION IN APRIL 2023:

Coffs Harbour-Grafton

Employed Full-Time — 40,100 persons

Employed Part-Time — 28,100 persons

Unemployed Total — 2,800 persons

Not in the Labour Force — 55,100 persons

Unemployment rate for 15-64 years of age — 4% 

Youth Unemployment Rate 15-24 years — 6.3%.

Richmond-Tweed

Employed Full-Time — 79,800 persons

Employed Part-Time — 50,400 persons

Unemployed Total — 3,600 persons

Not in the Labour Force — 86,500 persons

Unemployment Rate for 15-64 years of age — 2.7% 

Youth Unemployment Rate 15-24 years — 5.4%.

NOTE: NSW regional estimates for all SA4 employment areas in April 2023 can be found at:

https://labourmarketinsights.gov.au/regions/all-regions-abs-sa4/. 

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), media release, 18 May 2023:

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point (rounded) to 3.7 per cent in April, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Bjorn Jarvis, ABS head of labour statistics, said: "with employment dropping by around 4,000 people and the number of unemployed increasing by 18,000 people, the unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent.”

“The small fall in employment followed an average monthly increase of around 39,000 people during the first quarter of this year.”

Similarly, the employment-to-population ratio fell 0.2 percentage points to 64.2 per cent and the participation rate decreased 0.1 percentage point to 66.7 per cent.

“Even with these falls, both indicators were still well above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels and close to their historical highs in 2022,” Mr Jarvis said.

Hours worked

Seasonally adjusted monthly hours worked increased by 2.6 per cent in April.

“This was because fewer people than usual worked reduced hours over the Easter period,” Mr Jarvis said.

“The last time Easter and the survey period aligned like this was in 2015, when around 60 per cent of employed people worked fewer hours than usual. This Easter it was only around 55 per cent of employed people.

“This may reflect more people taking their leave earlier or later than usual, or that some people were unable to, given the high number of vacancies that we’re still seeing employers reporting….

Underemployment and underutilisation

The underemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 6.1 per cent (seasonally adjusted), following a 0.4 percentage point increase in March.

"The underemployment rate is still low in historic terms, around 2.6 percentage points lower than before the pandemic, and underpinned by faster growth in hours worked than employment," Mr Jarvis said.

The underutilisation rate, which combines the unemployment and underemployment rates, rose slightly to 9.8 per cent, and remained 4.2 percentage points lower than in March 2020.

NOTE:

The April survey reference period was from 2 April to 15 April 2023.

The May survey reference period is from 30 April to 13 May 2023.

It seems that people are voting with their feet when it comes to New South Wales - this state experienced an unprecedented exodus of its residents to other states and territories in the last five years

 

New South Wales was home to 8,072,163 men, women and children or 31.8 per cent of the Australian population according to the August 2021 national census.

The state's total population had grown by 591,935 people since the previous census in 2016.

It was also the state that in the five years before the 2021 Census lost the most people to migration to other states and territories, 102,200 to be exact.

The state’s net migration was an unprecedented drop. No other state or territory experience a net migration as large – in fact net migration for QLD exceeded +100,000 people, which was an unprecedented jump.

Click on image to enlarge

When it came to internal migration within New South Wales over the same five years there was a trasfer of population from Sydney to regional areas.

Of all the Australian capital cities, Sydney experienced the biggest net loss (-49,100), which was 0.9% of the city’s population. Unsurprisingly Brisbane showed a rising net gain in population from internal migration.

In Northern NSW.......

Between August 2016 and August 2021 the ABS SA4 statistical area Richmond-Tweed saw 34,527 people arriving and 29,370 leaving, resulting in a net population gain from movement into the area of 5,157 people.

Between August 2020 and August 2021 the net population gain from movement into the area was 558 people.

The ABS SA4 statistical area Coffs-Grafton in that same five year period saw 19,249 people moving into the area and 16,374 leaving, resulting in a net population gain from movement into the area of 2,875 people.

Between August 2020 and August 2021 the net population gain from movement into the Coffs-Grafton area was only 436 people.

Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has reached 984,000 men, women & children or 3.8 per cent of the total Australian population

    

It has been estimated that the Aboriginal population of Australia in January 1788 may have been as high as more than one million men, women and children.

By the time the 1921 national census was conducted only 72,000 people were identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.

The August 2021 Census has revealed a guardedly happier story.....

Australian Bureau of Statistics, media release, 21 September 2022:

Source: Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2021

Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population has reached 984,000 or 3.8 per cent of the total Australian population, according to the latest population figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Demography Director Emily Walter said that over the five years to June 2021, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population increased by 23.2 per cent, or 185,600 people.

"This is higher than the 5.5 per cent increase for the non-Indigenous population over the same period" said Ms Walter. “We have seen similar increases in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population between past Censuses, and they are partly explained by changing identification over time.”

While Victoria was the fastest growing state or territory for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait population with an increase of 36.2 per cent, it remains the jurisdiction with the lowest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (1.2 per cent). The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people relative to its total population size (30.8 per cent).

New South Wales had the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population (339,500 people), followed by Queensland (273,200 people) and Western Australia (120,000 people). These three states comprised almost three-quarters of the total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population had a younger age structure than the non-Indigenous population. One-third (33.1 per cent) of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were aged under 15 years, with just 5.4 per cent aged over 65 years. This compares to 17.9 per cent of the non-Indigenous population aged under 15 years and 17.2 per cent aged over 65 years.

“This younger age structure is the result of more babies being born and people dying younger in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population compared with that of the non-Indigenous population”, said Ms Walter.

Click on image to enlarge

• The preliminary estimates presented in this release are based on the 2021 Census counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, adjusted for net undercount as measured by the Post Enumeration Survey. They are different from statistics released in 2021 Census finds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander older population continues to grow | Australian Bureau of Statistics (abs.gov.au) which are based solely on the 2021 Census counts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

A Glimpse at Official Highlights of the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census

 

The last national Census night was Tuesday,10 August 2021.

 This census counted 25,417,978 Australian residents who were in Australia on Census night (including people imputed for non-responding dwellings). The Post Enumeration Survey (PES) estimate for the same population was 25,608,022 persons.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), National, state and territory population

• Australia’s population was 25,766,605 people at 31 December 2021.

• The quarterly growth was 63,400 people (0.2%).

• The annual growth was 128,000 people (0.5%).

• Annual natural increase was 138,500 and net overseas migration was -3,600.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, media releases, 28 June 2022, extracts on the broad subjects of:

POPULATION

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021#population

The 2021 Census counted nearly 25.5 million people (25,422,788) in Australia, excluding overseas visitors, on Census night. This is an increase of over two million people (2,020,896), or 8.6 per cent, since the 2016 Census.

Australia’s Census count has more than doubled in the last 50 years, with the 1971 Census counting over 12 million people (12,493,001).

The Census counted more than 800,000 (812,728) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on Census night, 3.2 per cent of the total people counted. This is an increase of over 25 per cent (25.2 per cent) since 2016.

Australia continues to become more diverse, with over 1 million (1,020,007) residents arriving in Australia from 2017 to 2021. Over four out of every five (83.7 per cent) of these arrivals were in 2017 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

With these new arrivals, we have seen the proportion of Australian residents that are born overseas (first generation) or have a parent born overseas (second generation) move above 50 per cent (51.5 per cent).

Beyond these headline numbers the Census provides rich information about the nation, giving insight on cultural diversity, families and homes, to how we changed during the pandemic.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “Every stat tells a story and today we are sharing a glimpse into the stories of almost 25.5 million Australians. This accurate and valuable data reveals who we are as a nation and how we have changed.

Thank you to the millions of people across Australia who completed the 2021 Census. It was important that everyone participated to ensure that every community is represented in the Census data.

Census data is used to inform important decisions about transport, schools, health care, infrastructure and business at the community and national level. The high response rate means that Census data provides accurate insights to tell your community’s story.”

The 2021 Census achieved a response rate above the Australian Bureau of Statistics target obtaining data from 10 million (10,852,208) dwellings during the height of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The dwelling response rate was 96.1 per cent, up from 95.1 per cent in 2016.

The Statistical Independent Assurance Panel, established by the Australian Statistician to provide assurance of Census data quality, concluded that the 2021 Census data is fit-for-purpose, is of comparable quality to the 2011 and 2016 Censuses and can be used with confidence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021

The 2021 Census of Population and Housing has delivered a snapshot of the different generations that make up Australia.

The latest data reveals that, within a very small margin, numbers of Millennials (25-39 years old) have caught up to Baby Boomers (55-74 years old) as the largest generational group in Australia. In the 1966 Census, nearly two in every five people (38.5 per cent) were Baby Boomers.

Baby Boomers and Millennials each have over 5.4 million people, with only 5,662 more Baby Boomers than Millennials counted on 10 August 2021. Over the last ten years, the Millennials have increased from 20.4 per cent of the population in 2011 to 21.5 per cent in 2021. In the same time, Baby Boomers have decreased from 25.4 per cent in 2011 to 21.5 per cent in 2021.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “The data collected by the Census assists governments and community organisations to understand the needs of each generation. We see that an increasing number of Baby Boomers are needing assistance with core activities – with 7.4 per cent reporting a need for assistance, compared to 2.8 per cent across the younger generations. This information will help frame policy that delivers positive outcomes for our communities.”

Census data shows the important role Baby Boomers are providing in caring for other peoples’ children, often their grandchildren. Around one in eight (12.8 per cent) Baby Boomers reported caring for other peoples’ children, and of these two thirds are female (67.5 per cent). They are also the generation most likely to volunteer and provide unpaid assistance to others.

Millennials are of working age and are upskilling, representing 40 per cent of people attending vocational education, including TAFE, and 48 per cent of people currently serving in the regular service of the Australian Defence Force.

Millennials and Baby Boomers report quite different religious affiliations, with nearly 60 per cent (56.8 per cent) of Baby Boomers reporting a Christian religious affiliation compared to 30 per cent of Millennials (30.6 per cent). More than 45 per cent (46.5 per cent) of Millennials reported that they had no religion compared to 30 per cent of Baby Boomers (30.7 per cent).

Generation Z (10-24 years old) represent 18 per cent of Australia and 30 per cent of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021#aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-communities

The 2021 Census provides an updated snapshot of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said today.

The Census found that 812,728 people (3.2 per cent of the population) identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, an increase of over 25 per cent (25.2 per cent) since 2016.

Of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people counted, 91.4 per cent identified as Aboriginal, 4.2 per cent identified as Torres Strait Islander, and 4.4 per cent identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

The Census also revealed growing numbers of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, with over 47,000 (47,677) aged 65 years and over in 2021, up from 31,000 in 2016 and 21,000 in 2011. The median age for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people increased slightly to 24 years in 2021, up from 23 years in 2016 and 21 years in 2011.

Traditional languages continue to be an important part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households, with 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages spoken at home in 2021 by over 78,000 (78,656) people.

The most widely reported language groups spoken were Arnhem Land and Daly River Region Languages, Torres Strait Island Languages, Western Desert Languages, Yolngu Matha and Arandic.

The 2021 Census introduced a new question on service with the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It found that over 3,000 (3,159 or 3.7 per cent) currently serving members and over 11,000 (11,610 or 2.3 per cent) former serving members identify as having Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “The Census collects vitally important information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities that will help governments and local organisations plan for health, education and community services into the future.

The ABS is undertaking further analysis of the insights that Census data provides for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We look forward to sharing these in our future releases.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERNATIONAL ANCESTRY and LANGUAGE

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021#culturally-and-linguistically-diverse-communities

The Census provides a snapshot of the cultures and languages that make up Australia by providing data on cultural diversity, country of birth, ancestry and languages used at home.

The 2021 Census found that almost half of Australians have a parent born overseas (48.2 per cent) and the population continues to be drawn from around the globe, with 27.6 per cent reporting a birthplace overseas.

The Census shows that Australia has welcomed more than one million people (1,020,007) into Australia since 2017. The largest increase in country of birth, outside Australia, was India with 220,000 (217,963) additional people counted. India has moved past China and New Zealand to become the third largest country of birth behind Australia and England.

The second largest increase in country of birth was Nepal, with an additional 70,000 (67,752) people, meaning the population of Nepali born has more than doubled since 2016 (an increase of 123.7 per cent).

The top five reported ancestries in the 2021 Census followed previous trends and were English at 33.0 per cent, Australian at 29.9 per cent, Irish at 9.5 per cent, Scottish at 8.6 per cent and Chinese at 5.5 per cent.

The number of people who used a language other than English at home has increased by nearly 800,000 (792,062) from 2016 to over 5.5 million people (5,663,709). 850,000 (852,706) of this group reported that they do not speak English well or at all.

Mandarin continues to be the most common language other than English used at home, with nearly 700,000 (685,274) people using Mandarin at home. This is followed by Arabic with just over 367,000 (367,159) people. Punjabi had the largest increase, with the 2021 Census showing over 239,000 (239,033) people using Punjabi at home, an increase of over 80 per cent (80.4 per cent) from 2016.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “The Census captures the extent of the linguistic diversity across Australia. 2021 Census data collected information on over 250 ancestries and 350 languages.

The information collected in the Census provides important data to help plan services and support for culturally and linguistically diverse communities at the local level. For example, by understanding the growing population groups in their area, community groups can provide in-language services at the local level”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HOUSING and HOUSEHOLDS

https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/snapshot-australia/2021#our-families-and-households

There were nearly 11 million (10,852,208) private dwellings counted in the 2021 Census, an increase of nearly one million (950,712) since 2016. These dwellings were comprised of separate houses (70 per cent), apartments (16 per cent) and town houses (13 per cent). The proportion of apartments continues to increase, with apartments accounting for nearly one third (30.9 per cent) of the increase in private dwellings since 2016.

The 2021 Census separately identified high rises (nine or more storeys) for the first time and found that over half a million people (550,592) live in Australia’s 370,000 (368,943) high rise apartments. Over 2.5 million people (2,620,903) or 10.3 per cent of us now live in apartments.

Not all dwellings were occupied on Census night (such as vacant holiday homes or vacant investment properties), with the 2021 Census finding more than one million (1,043,776) unoccupied dwellings.

Many alternative dwellings were also counted on Census night, including caravans (58,155), cabins and houseboats (29,369).

Two thirds of households (66.0 per cent) own their home outright or with a mortgage, very similar to Censuses back to 1996 (67.8 per cent). However, the proportion of households that own outright has dropped from 40 per cent in 1996 (41.6 per cent) to 30 per cent in 2021 (31.0 per cent).

Households that own with a mortgage have increased from about a quarter of all households (26.2 per cent) in 1996 to 35 per cent (35.0 per cent). Over the last 25 years, the number of homes owned outright has increased by 10 per cent, while the number owned with a mortgage has doubled (increased by 96.8 per cent).

When travelling to and from our homes, we are a nation of drivers. 91 per cent of households (91.3 per cent) reported having at least one vehicle and more than half (55.1 per cent) reported having two or more vehicles.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “The Census provides a unique snapshot of where people slept on Census night. During the Census, we reached people staying in hotels, those travelling on Census night, and even Australians working offshore.

The information collected about how people live and what type of home they live in will help inform community planning for new housing and support existing living arrangements within the community”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HEALTH

2021 is the first time Census has collected information on diagnosed long-term health conditions. Over two million people reported having at least one of the following conditions - mental health (2,231,543), arthritis (2,150,396) or asthma (2,068,020), with these being the most reported long-term health conditions.

Almost 4.8 million (4,791,516) people reported having one of the ten long-term health conditions listed on the Census form, while nearly 1.5 million (1,490,344) had two of these health conditions and over 750,000 (772,142) had three or more of these long-term health conditions. A further one million (1,009,836) indicated that they had at least one other long-term health condition that was not listed on the form.

The proportion of those with a long-term health condition increased with age. More than three out of every five (62.9 per cent) people aged 65+ reported having at least one long-term health condition compared with one out of every five (22.1 per cent) 15–34 year olds.

Females were more likely to report a long-term health condition than males, with 34 per cent (33.9 per cent) of females having one or more long-term health conditions compared with 30 per cent (29.5 per cent) of males. Males most commonly reported asthma and mental health conditions, while the most commonly reported long term health conditions reported by females were arthritis and mental health conditions.

Asthma is the most commonly reported health condition for 0–14 year olds, with a notable difference between male children with 7.4 per cent reporting asthma compared to 5.3 per cent of female children.

Census data on long-term health conditions can be split by other characteristics such as geography, cultural background or family type. For example, the 2021 Census shows over half of people born in Greece (56.1 per cent) and Italy (53.7 per cent) reported one or more long-term health conditions.

Dr David Gruen AO, Australian Statistician, said “For the first time, we have data on long-term health conditions across the whole population. This is critical data to inform planning and service delivery decisions about how treatment and care is provided for all Australians.

Census data will help provide a more detailed picture of Australians’ health. Census data complements existing ABS health surveys by providing additional insights about the communities that require services to support complex health needs”.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For further information about 2021 Census data go to:

 www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data.

NOTE:

• The Census net undercount was 0.7% (190,044 persons).

• The Northern Territory recorded the highest net undercount (6.0%) while the Australian Capital Territory recorded a net overcount (-0.6%).

• Males were more likely to be missed in the Census (1.3% net undercount) compared with females (0.2%).

• The net undercount for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was 17.4%.

The total net undercount on the night in New South Wales was 0.0%. This was attributed by the ABS to people having limited movement across the state due to COVID-19 lockdowns in place at the time.

Climate change impacts even affect official labour force statistics in 2022

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 19 May 2021:

Impacts from floods in New South Wales and Queensland 

Flooding in New South Wales and Queensland in late February 2022 resulted in a major disruption to the operation of the Labour Force Survey. As a result, there was lower than usual numbers of responding households in some of the affected regions in March 2022. 

Given the severity of these disruptions and to ensure this loss of sample did not affect data for Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, the ABS imputed some sample within 15 statistical area level 4 (SA4s) regions for March 2022. This imputation approach drew upon previous information that had recently been collected from people in the affected areas, following the approach used for February 2019 for the Townsville Flood. 

The ABS has re-assessed this imputation, with reference to April 2022 data for the affected areas, and has not revised the imputed data for March. The ABS will continue to monitor the data over coming months and undertake additional analysis of the imputed data as further data becomes available. Data for all SA4s will be published in Labour Force, Australia, Detailed on 26 May 2022. 

[my yellow highlighting]

What the Australian Bureau of Statistics is politely saying is that Labour Force, Australia for April 2022, released on 19 May 2022 – containing headline estimates of employment, unemployment, underemployment, participation and hours worked from the monthly Labour Force Survey – is educated guesswork and voters won’t know if the figures and percentage changes hold until 5 days after the federal general election at the earliest.

State of Play COVID-19 Pandemic 2022: fewer Australians taking COVID-19 precautions by April 2022

www.covid19data.com.au
11am 18 May 2022


Cumulative Deaths from COVID-19 by Age Group & Gender

Australian Dept. of Health
18 May 2022

On Saturday 14 May 2022 there were est. 52 COVID-19 deaths in the previous 24 hours across Australia, on Sunday 15 May est. 21 deaths, on Monday 16 May est. 13 deaths, on Tuesday 17 May est. 66 deaths and on Wednesday 18 May est. 53 deaths. 

Australia is experiencing daily COVID-19 death numbers never seen in 2020 or 2021. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics; After cancers, doctor-certified deaths due to COVID-19 were the second most common cause of death in January 2022.

And yet governments urged on by Prime Minister Scott Morrison have all but abandoned public health measures and, he is currently framing the narrative that Australia has entered the post-pandemic phase and that deaths occurring are in men and women whose COVID-19 diagnosis was merely incidental to their deaths - and in almost the same breath saying that COVID-19 deaths are occurring as expected.

This is a gross misrepresentation by Morrison.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics clearly reported that between January 2020 and March 2022 COVID-19 was the underlying cause of death in 90.8% of all deaths having a COVID-19 diagnosis. 

On 16 May 2022 the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners observed that; COVID-19 cases and deaths are many times the amount modelled ahead of Australia’s re-opening. Further stating that; In the past six months from mid-November 2021 – when inter-state travel restrictions began to be lifted – there have been 5,906 deaths attributed to COVID-19, more than quadruple the amount that was predicted by the Doherty Institute modelling.

However, with publicly available information on official COVID-19 infection numbers, transmission rates, locations and deaths now being deliberately redefined, fragmented, less frequent or ceasing entirely, most people now only have a vague awareness of how the pandemic continues to play out in their local government area.

This is the result.....

Australian Bureau of Statistics, media release, 17 May 2022:

Fewer Australians taking COVID-19 precautions

Source Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, April 2022

More Australians reported household members returning positive COVID-19 tests in April, but fewer reported taking precautions against the spread of COVID-19, according to survey results released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Head of Household Surveys, David Zago, said: “Our latest Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, conducted between 19 and 28 April 2022, showed 62 per cent of households had a COVID-19 test in the past four weeks, up from 46 per cent in March 2022.”

Of those households where someone had a COVID-19 test, 23 per cent reported one or more household members had tested positive in April, up from 14 per cent in March.

“However, only 78 per cent of Australians in April reported wearing a face mask in the previous week, down from 98 per cent in February.

“In April, Australians were also less likely in the week before the survey was conducted to have taken precautions by washing their hands or using hand sanitiser regularly (92 per cent down from 95 per cent in February), and physically distancing themselves from other people (75 per cent down from 85 per cent),” said Mr Zago.

The results, released as part of a suite of ABS products to measure the impacts of COVID-19 on households from 2020 to 2022, also provide insight into social activities and working from home arrangements of people compared with before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in Australia.

“Almost twice as many employed Australians worked from home one or more times a week in April compared to before COVID-19 restrictions were introduced in March 2020 (46 per cent up from 24 per cent). Meanwhile, fewer Australians exercised at a gym or played sport in April compared to March 2020 (29 per cent down from 38 per cent).”

Australians in April were also less likely to attended social gatherings one or more times a week than before restrictions were introduced (20 per cent down from 27 per cent).

The ABS would like to thank the Australian households that contributed to results for the duration of this survey.

Media notes

• COVID-19 tests refer to both Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests.