Table Of Content

1999 YEAR BOOK AUSTRALIA 1999 YEAR BOOK AUSTRALIA W. McLennan Australian Statistician NUMBER 81 AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS CANBERRA ABS Catalogue No. 1301.0 ISSN 0312-4746 © Commonwealth of Australia 1999 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under theCopyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without permission from AusInfo. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo, GPO Box 84, Canberra ACT 2601. In all cases the ABS must be acknowledged as the source when reproducing or quoting any part of an ABS publication or other product. Table of Contents Chapter Page Preface vii Introduction ix 1 Geography and climate 1 2 Government 21 3 International relations 39 4 Defence 59 5 Population 67 Special Article—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians—a statistical profile from the 1996 Census 102 6 Labour 113 7 Income and welfare 163 Special Article—Older Australians 196 8 Housing 201 9 Health 223 10 Education 267 11 Crime and justice 295 Special Article—National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Survey—Law and justice issues 318 12 Culture and recreation 323 13 Industry overview 355 Special Article—Employment generation by the small business sector 367 14 Environment 377 15 Agriculture 393 16 Forestry and fishing 429 17 Mining 451 18 Energy 471 19 Manufacturing 487 20 Construction 501 21 Service industries 515 Special Article—Australia’s non-profit sector 536 22 Tourism 543 23 Transport 559 24 Communications 579 Special Article—The information society and the information economy in Australia 587 25 Science and technology 595 26 Financial system 617 27 Government finance 641 28 Prices 667 29 National accounts 685 30 International accounts and trade 709 Special Article—Developments in Australian exports—-a longer term perspective 754 Year Book Australia 1999 vii Preface Year Book Australiais the principal reference work produced by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It provides a comprehensive statistical overview of various aspects of the economy and social conditions in Australia, together with their administrative and legislative background. In addition, it contains descriptive matter dealing with Australia’s government, international relations, defence, geography and climate. The first Official Year Book of the Commonwealth was published in 1908, although individual Australian States and colonies had been producing year books for several decades previously. The statistics contained in this edition are the most recent available at the time of its preparation. More detailed and, in many cases, more recent statistics are available in the publications of the ABS and other organisations. The sources of information are shown throughout and at the end of chapters of theYear Book, while theABS Catalogue of Publications and Products(1101.0) lists all current publications of the ABS. ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued co-operation is very much appreciated. Particular thanks and appreciation are extended to those organisations which have kindly supplied material for inclusion in this 1999 edition ofYear Book Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics Canberra W. McLennan February 1999 Australian Statistician Year Book Australia 1999 ix Introduction Y ear Book Australiaprovides a subjects, and limitations on the size of the comprehensive overview of the economic Year Book,it aims at breadth rather than depth of and social conditions of contemporary Australia. information. It is a statistically oriented publication with sufficient background information to establish a For those requiring information in greater depth, context for the statistics and to assist in theYear Bookalso serves as a directory to more understanding and interpreting them. detailed sources, with the source shown for each statistical table, graph and map. Where the ABS is Many of the statistics are derived from the ABS, the source, the title and catalogue number of the the official statistical agency which produces the relevant publication are quoted. For other Year Book. However, a great deal of the sources, the name of the organisation is shown, information is also contributed by other, and the publication title where appropriate. predominantly government, organisations. The Relevant ABS and other publications are also listed official nature of the contributors to the at the end of each chapter. A useful Year Bookensures a high degree of objectivity complementary publication is theABS Catalogue and reliability in the picture presented of of Publications and Products(1101.0) which lists contemporary Australia. all current publications and products of the ABS. TheYear Bookalso presents some historical and Year Books or Statistical Summaries produced by international perspectives on Australia. the ABS for States and Territories provide information similar to that contained in the This current (81st) edition is the latest in a long Year Book Australia,for the State or Territory series of Year Books extending back to the first concerned. edition in 1908. This series provides a valuable source of information on the state of Australia at In many cases, the ABS can also provide any particular point in this period. information which is not published or which is compiled from a variety of published and Year Book Australia 1999is also available on unpublished sources. Information of this kind may CD-ROM. be obtained through the Information Consultancy Service. Charges are generally made for such Finding information information. Inquiries may be made by contacting the Inquiries area of the nearest ABS office The contents pages at the beginning of the (see page 762). Year Bookand preceding each chapter provide a guide to the broad subjects contained in each The annual reports of government departments chapter. The index assists in locating information and agencies also provide a valuable source of on more specific subjects.AlistofSpecialArticles more detailed information on subjects covered in which have appeared in previous editions is theYear Book. contained at the end of theYear Book. For a variety of reasons, it is not possible for all The tables and graphs in a chapter are numbered statistics in theYear Bookto relate to the latest or and the text is cross-referenced, as necessary, to the same year. Readers wishing to obtain or clarify the table or graph to which it relates. the latest available statistics should contact the relevant source. Further information While the statistics and descriptive information Comments from readers contained in theYear Bookprovide a The ABS endeavours to keep the balance of the comprehensive overview of Australia, they contents of theYear Bookin line with the represent only a relatively small part of the ever-changing nature of the nation. For this statistics and other information available. The reason comments on the adequacy and balance of Year Bookis aimed primarily at providing a the contents of theYear Bookare welcomed and ready and convenient source of reference, both should be directed to the attention of the Editor to those familiar and unfamiliar with a particular of the Year Book, AustralianBureau ofStatistics, subject. In other words, because of the range of PO Box 10,Belconnen ACT 2616. x Year Book Australia 1999 Symbols and abbreviations The following abbreviations are used for the titles of the Australian States and Territories and The following symbols, where shown in columns Australia: of figures or elsewhere in tables, mean: NSW New South Wales n.a. not available Vic. Victoria n.y.a not yet available Qld Queensland – nil or rounded to zero WA Western Australia .. not applicable SA South Australia n.p. not available for separate publication (but included in totals where applicable) Tas. Tasmania p preliminary—figures or series subject to NT Northern Territory revision ACT Australian Capital Territory r figures or series revised since previous issue Aust. Australia n.e.i. not elsewhere included n.e.c. not elsewhere classified Yearly periods shown, for example, as 1996, refer to the year ended 31 December 1996; those n.e.s. not elsewhere specified shown, for example, as 1996–97, refer to the year ended 30 June 1997. Other yearly periods are — break in continuity of series (where specifically indicated. The range of years shown drawn across a column between two in the table headings, for example, 1901 to consecutive figures) 1996–97, indicates the period covered, but does not necessarily imply that each intervening year * subject to high standard errors and is included or that the yearly period has should be used with caution remained the same throughout the series. $m $ million Values are shown in Australian dollars ($) or cents (c) unless another currency is specified. $b $ billion (thousand million) Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between sums of the component items and totals.