Fisheries Glossary

A comprehensive glossary of fisheries terms is available on the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry website.

Social Science Glossary

Annual population growth rate: The rate at which the population is increasing or decreasing in a given year expressed as a percentage of the base population size. It takes into consideration all the components of population growth, namely births, deaths and migration.
Child dependency ratio: Ratio of the child population (aged 0 to 14 years) per person of working age (15 to 64 years).
Commercial fishing employment: Persons aged 15 years and over employed in commercial fishing activities including marine fishing and aquaculture.
Fish industry (consolidated) employment: Persons aged 15 years and over employed in commercial fishing, aquaculture, fish wholesaling and seafood processing.
Dependency ratio: Ratio of the dependent population (aged 0 to 14 years and 65 years and over) per person of working age (15 to 64 years).
Elderly dependency ratio: Ratio of the elderly population (aged 65 years and over) per person of working age (15 to 64 years).
Government pension recipients: Families who receive some form of government pension or benefit including Newstart allowance, parenting payment, rent assistance, Austudy payment and disability support pension as a proportion of all families.
High income household: The proportion or households receiving a total weekly income of $1,200 or more.
Industry employment variance: Calculated by ranking industries by number of employed persons, from highest to lowest. The sum of the persons employed in the three main industries is expressed as a proportion of total persons employed across all industries.
Labour force participation rate: The labour force (persons employed or unemployed) expressed as a percentage of the population.
Low income household: The proportion of households receiving a total weekly income of $300 or less.
Median age: For any distribution the median value is that which divides the relevant population into two equal parts, half falling below the value, and half exceeding it. Thus, the median age is the age at which half the population is older and half is younger.
Metropolitan: Metropolitan areas in each state and territory have been defined as the Capital City Statistical Division.
Non-metropolitan: Non-metropolitan areas cover all other parts of a state or territory excluding the Metropolitan areas as defined above.
Population density: Population density is the total population within a geographic entity divided by the land area of that entity measured in square kilometres or square miles.
Sex ratio: The sex ratio relates to the number of males per 100 females.
Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage: Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (2001) - includes variables that reflect or measure relative disadvantage. Variables include low income, low educational attainment, high unemployment and people with low skilled occupations. A low index value reflects relative disadvantage and occurs where there are a large proportion of low-income families, people with low skilled occupations and high proportions of the population without training. A high value reflects lack of disadvantage in an area.
Statistical Local Area (SLA): These geographical areas are in most cases identical with, or have been formed from a division of, whole Local Government Areas (LGAs). In other cases, they represent unincorporated areas. In aggregate, SLAs cover the whole of a state or territory without gaps or overlaps. In some cases legal LGAs overlap Statistical Subdivision boundaries and therefore comprise two or three SLAs (Part A, Part B and, if necessary, Part C).
Unemployment rate: The proportion of the total labour force that is aged 15 years and older and unemployed.
Working age: Population aged 15 to 64 years of age.