Sources of personal income by electorate

Research Note Index

Research Note no. 53 2004–05

Sources of personal income by electorate

Tony Kryger
Statistics Section
14 June 2005

The findings in this Research Note are based on regional experimental estimates, at the Statistical Local Area (SLA) level, of the sources and total amount of personal income which people received in 2000–01. The estimates, published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics,⁽¹⁾ were compiled by bringing together aggregated individual income tax data from the Australian Taxation Office and aggregated income support customer data from the Australian Government Department of Family and Community Services.⁽²⁾

Estimates at the SLA level have been amalgamated into electoral divisions by the Parliamentary Library for the purpose of this Research Note.

Results

Wages and salaries account for more than 70 per cent of all income received by Australians (see Table 1). This is by far the largest single source of income, the second biggest source being government cash benefits (11 per cent of all income received), followed by investment income (8 per cent) and own unincorporated business income (7 per cent).

Table 1. Sources of personal income by state, 2000-01

Of all the Australian states and territories, the Northern Territory has the highest proportion of income that comes from wages and salaries and the lowest proportion that comes from investments. Tasmania, the least affluent state in terms of the average income of its residents, has the highest proportion of income that comes from government cash benefits. The most affluent states, Victoria and NSW, have a higher proportion of income that comes from investments than is the case in any other state. The ACT however, which is more affluent than both these states, has a relatively small proportion of income that comes from investments but a high proportion that comes from superannuation and annuities.

There is a clear difference between higher and lower income electorates in terms of where their income is sourced. This is seen in Table 2, which has been compiled by ranking all electorates according to average income⁽³⁾ and dividing the electorates into five groups so that each contains an equal number of electorates (called income quintiles). Electorates in the lowest quintile are therefore at the lowest end of the income spectrum. The table shows that wages and salaries are a more important source of income for higher income than for lower income electorates. On the other hand, income from own unincorporated business is more important in lower income than higher income electorates. Investment income is a much more significant source of income for electorates in the highest quintile than it is for electorates in any of the other income quintiles. Government cash benefits decline steadily in importance as a source of income as average income levels rise.

Table 2. Sources of personal income by income quintile, 2000-01

It is important to note that the above observations do not imply causality. In other words, it should not be inferred from the Research Note that high average income (say) leads to more investment or that more investment leads to high average income.

The distribution of income by source of income in individual electorates is shown in Table 3. Not surprisingly, there are significant differences between electorates. For example, the percentage of income derived from wages and salaries ranges from 54 per cent in Richmond (NSW) to 84 per cent in Greenway (NSW). Also, the percentage of income derived from investments ranges from 1 per cent in Chifley (NSW) to 24 per cent in Wentworth (NSW), while the percentage that is derived from government cash benefits ranges from 2 per cent in Bradfield (NSW) to 26 per cent in Wide Bay (Qld).

Table 3. Sources of personal income by electorate, 2000–01

Electoral Division

Party

Wage & Salary

Own
Unincorp-
orated Business

Invest-
ment

Super
annuation
& Annuity

Govt Cash Benefit

Other Income

Total Income from All Sources

%

%

%

%

%

%

%

$m

Adelaide (SA)

ALP

63.0

7.3

14.9

2.8

11.0

0.9

100.0

3124.1

Aston (VIC)

LIB

80.5

4.5

5.3

2.0

7.2

0.5

100.0

2586.0

Ballarat (VIC)

ALP

68.9

6.1

7.1

2.7

14.9

0.4

100.0

2158.7

Banks (NSW)

ALP

75.4

4.9

5.5

2.0

11.9

0.4

100.0

2265.0

Barker (SA)

LIB

61.7

15.5

7.5

1.6

13.3

0.3

100.0

2526.9

Barton (NSW)

ALP

75.2

5.2

8.1

2.1

9.0

0.5

100.0

2791.0

Bass (TAS)

LIB

67.4

5.7

7.1

2.6

16.7

0.5

100.0

1553.1

Batman (VIC)

ALP

72.2

4.0

5.2

1.6

16.6

0.4

100.0

2340.9

Bendigo (VIC)

ALP

64.4

6.8

7.5

3.7

17.3

0.3

100.0

2045.4

Bennelong (NSW)

LIB

78.4

4.6

7.6

2.4

6.1

0.7

100.0

3079.5

Berowra (NSW)

LIB

77.4

4.5

10.7

2.8

3.5

1.1

100.0

3457.0

Blair (QLD)

LIB

71.0

5.9

3.4

2.1

17.3

0.3

100.0

2004.7

Blaxland (NSW)

ALP

75.0

5.0

3.9

1.6

14.2

0.3

100.0

2366.9

Bonner (QLD)

LIB

75.3

5.6

6.5

2.1

10.0

0.5

100.0

2427.3

Boothby (SA)

LIB

67.1

6.3

10.7

4.6

10.4

0.8

100.0

2741.6

Bowman (QLD)

LIB

74.2

6.5

6.1

2.2

10.1

1.0

100.0

2272.3

Braddon (TAS)

LIB

65.2

7.8

5.5

2.2

18.8

0.5

100.0

1511.0

Bradfield (NSW)

LIB

63.4

7.3

22.1

3.3

1.7

2.2

100.0

5442.2

Brand (WA)

ALP

70.4

6.4

3.9

2.4

15.6

1.2

100.0

2022.1

Brisbane (QLD)

ALP

76.3

5.9

7.5

1.9

7.6

0.7

100.0

2841.1

Bruce (VIC)

ALP

73.2

4.0

7.9

2.8

11.6

0.5

100.0

2616.2

Calare (NSW)

IND

70.9

7.7

5.9

1.8

13.3

0.4

100.0

2262.8

Calwell (VIC)

ALP

78.1

3.6

3.7

1.2

13.1

0.3

100.0

2276.2

Canberra (ACT)

ALP

78.0

4.7

6.1

5.8

4.7

0.7

100.0

3862.9

Canning (WA)

LIB

70.5

7.7

5.2

1.9

13.7

1.0

100.0

2041.0

Capricornia (QLD)

ALP

72.6

10.0

3.9

1.1

12.0

0.3

100.0

2537.3

Casey (VIC)

LIB

76.4

5.8

6.8

2.2

8.1

0.7

100.0

2504.1

Charlton (NSW)

ALP

70.9

4.7

6.0

2.9

15.1

0.4

100.0

2163.4

Chifley (NSW)

ALP

80.2

3.7

1.0

0.7

14.2

0.2

100.0

2490.5

Chisholm (VIC)

ALP

72.8

4.2

10.2

4.0

8.2

0.6

100.0

2743.2

Cook (NSW)

LIB

75.4

5.3

10.5

3.0

5.2

0.6

100.0

3013.5

Corangamite (VIC)

LIB

66.6

7.7

9.9

3.6

11.7

0.5

100.0

2200.1

Corio (VIC)

ALP

70.7

4.4

6.8

2.2

15.6

0.4

100.0

2255.0

Cowan (WA)

ALP

74.0

7.7

5.5

1.5

10.4

0.9

100.0

2257.1

Cowper (NSW)

NP

56.2

7.9

7.0

3.8

24.5

0.6

100.0

1687.4

Cunningham (NSW)

ALP

75.0

4.1

5.2

1.9

13.5

0.4

100.0

2304.2

Curtin (WA)

LIB

61.3

8.1

20.9

2.9

5.3

1.6

100.0

3570.6

Dawson (QLD)

NP

72.4

6.3

6.6

1.3

12.9

0.3

100.0

2355.5

Deakin (VIC)

LIB

75.1

4.2

7.8

3.7

8.4

0.7

100.0

2678.2

Denison (TAS)

ALP

65.6

6.3

9.5

4.1

13.9

0.6

100.0

1784.4

Dickson (QLD)

LIB

79.1

5.5

5.6

1.9

7.4

0.5

100.0

2262.1

Dobell (NSW)

LIB

68.0

6.5

5.7

2.9

16.4

0.5

100.0

2119.9

Dunkley (VIC)

LIB

71.6

5.1

8.2

3.3

11.2

0.7

100.0

2502.7

Eden-Monaro (NSW)

LIB

63.9

8.8

8.2

4.6

13.8

0.8

100.0

2262.5

Fadden (QLD)

LIB

64.9

7.3

9.6

2.6

14.5

1.0

100.0

1993.3

Fairfax (QLD)

LIB

59.3

8.1

8.9

3.7

18.8

1.3

100.0

1796.4

Farrer (NSW)

LIB

62.9

13.2

8.5

2.0

13.1

0.3

100.0

2252.3

Fisher (QLD)

LIB

59.2

8.0

10.3

4.4

16.9

1.2

100.0

1889.9

Flinders (VIC)

LIB

62.6

7.3

11.2

4.2

14.0

0.7

100.0

2212.5

Forde (QLD)

LIB

70.6

7.9

4.4

1.4

15.1

0.6

100.0

1990.5

Forrest (WA)

LIB

68.3

9.8

7.5

1.9

11.8

0.7

100.0

2155.8

Fowler (NSW)

ALP

75.0

5.4

2.5

0.6

16.3

0.3

100.0

2241.2

Franklin (TAS)

ALP

67.4

6.9

6.3

4.2

14.4

0.7

100.0

1664.9

Fraser (ACT)

ALP

77.6

4.3

6.1

5.7

5.7

0.6

100.0

3963.0

Fremantle (WA)

ALP

71.7

7.5

7.7

1.8

10.3

1.0

100.0

2410.5

Gellibrand (VIC)

ALP

76.0

3.4

4.2

1.7

14.4

0.4

100.0

2577.3

Gilmore (NSW)

LIB

61.3

7.6

9.1

4.5

16.6

0.8

100.0

2021.8

Gippsland (VIC)

NP

66.5

7.6

6.4

3.0

16.2

0.4

100.0

2173.1

Goldstein (VIC)

LIB

66.7

5.4

18.1

3.3

5.0

1.6

100.0

4025.5

Gorton (VIC)

ALP

77.6

3.8

3.6

0.9

13.9

0.2

100.0

2255.5

Grayndler (NSW)

ALP

80.0

4.9

4.6

1.0

8.9

0.6

100.0

3278.2

Greenway (NSW)

LIB

83.8

4.4

2.4

0.8

8.2

0.3

100.0

3123.2

Grey (SA)

LIB

60.1

12.7

6.2

2.1

18.5

0.4

100.0

2268.5

Griffith (QLD)

ALP

74.1

5.8

8.3

1.8

9.4

0.6

100.0

2863.3

Groom (QLD)

LIB

70.8

6.4

6.9

2.2

13.3

0.5

100.0

2150.4

Gwydir (NSW)

NP

60.7

11.6

8.3

1.2

16.7

1.5

100.0

2091.0

Hasluck (WA)

LIB

74.4

6.7

5.7

1.7

10.5

1.1

100.0

2225.7

Herbert (QLD)

LIB

77.1

5.9

4.2

1.9

10.6

0.3

100.0

2491.3

Higgins (VIC)

LIB

62.4

6.4

22.9

2.4

3.7

2.2

100.0

4876.4

Hindmarsh (SA)

ALP

65.9

5.0

10.4

4.0

13.8

0.9

100.0

2645.1

Hinkler (QLD)

NP

68.4

6.6

4.7

1.7

18.2

0.4

100.0

2072.4

Holt (VIC)

ALP

80.1

4.9

3.9

0.9

9.8

0.3

100.0

2384.5

Hotham (VIC)

ALP

74.2

4.3

7.7

2.5

10.8

0.5

100.0

2516.2

Hughes (NSW)

LIB

83.3

4.6

4.4

1.7

5.7

0.4

100.0

2909.7

Hume (NSW)

LIB

68.4

9.0

8.8

2.6

10.7

0.6

100.0

2368.6

Hunter (NSW)

ALP

75.7

3.7

4.4

1.7

14.1

0.3

100.0

2280.6

Indi (VIC)

LIB

66.5

8.4

7.7

3.2

13.6

0.6

100.0

2077.5

Isaacs (VIC)

ALP

75.4

4.3

5.6

2.1

12.1

0.4

100.0

2462.3

Jagajaga (VIC)

ALP

75.5

4.4

9.2

3.1

7.3

0.6

100.0

2985.2

Kalgoorlie (WA)

LIB

79.8

7.4

3.4

0.3

8.9

0.2

100.0

2844.5

Kennedy (QLD)

IND

70.0

9.5

4.4

1.2

14.4

0.4

100.0

2419.0

Kingsford Smith (NSW)

ALP

76.3

5.7

8.8

1.6

7.0

0.6

100.0

3470.6

Kingston (SA)

LIB

73.0

6.1

3.7

2.1

14.4

0.7

100.0

2281.8

Kooyong (VIC)

LIB

64.2

7.0

20.3

3.2

3.7

1.6

100.0

4207.9

La Trobe (VIC)

LIB

78.3

5.6

6.3

1.7

7.5

0.5

100.0

2383.6

Lalor (VIC)

ALP

81.8

3.8

3.1

1.3

9.7

0.3

100.0

2381.4

Leichhardt (QLD)

LIB

73.4

7.3

5.2

1.1

12.5

0.5

100.0

2513.3

Lilley (QLD)

ALP

72.0

5.7

9.6

2.4

9.7

0.6

100.0

2856.1

Lindsay (NSW)

LIB

81.8

5.1

2.5

1.2

9.1

0.3

100.0

2455.4

Lingiari (NT)

ALP

77.7

3.6

2.0

1.0

15.5

0.2

100.0

1534.7

Longman (QLD)

LIB

67.2

6.8

3.9

2.8

18.7

0.6

100.0

1813.5

Lowe (NSW)

ALP

74.4

6.3

10.1

1.8

6.7

0.8

100.0

3306.8

Lyne (NSW)

NP

55.9

8.1

8.3

4.2

22.8

0.6

100.0

1837.1

Lyons (TAS)

ALP

63.8

8.1

5.6

2.4

19.5

0.5

100.0

1379.3

Macarthur (NSW)

LIB

82.5

4.5

2.5

1.0

9.3

0.3

100.0

2559.2

Mackellar (NSW)

LIB

71.5

5.6

14.5

3.0

3.7

1.7

100.0

3674.0

Macquarie (NSW)

LIB

76.6

6.5

5.4

2.6

8.4

0.5

100.0

2622.8

Makin (SA)

LIB

76.8

5.4

3.6

2.2

11.4

0.7

100.0

2433.3

Mallee (VIC)

NP

54.7

20.1

8.6

2.0

14.4

0.2

100.0

2216.3

Maranoa (QLD)

NP

65.8

14.8

6.2

0.8

12.0

0.3

100.0

2214.1

Maribyrnong (VIC)

ALP

75.6

4.1

5.9

1.9

12.2

0.4

100.0

2581.0

Mayo (SA)

LIB

66.5

9.4

9.4

3.2

10.7

0.8

100.0

2281.7

McEwen (VIC)

LIB

75.3

5.2

7.6

2.3

8.9

0.5

100.0

2488.0

McMillan (VIC)

LIB

63.6

12.0

7.3

2.5

14.3

0.4

100.0

1881.7

McPherson (QLD)

LIB

64.7

8.0

8.3

3.0

15.0

1.0

100.0

2095.5

Melbourne (VIC)

ALP

74.4

5.3

9.4

1.6

8.5

0.9

100.0

3703.1

Melbourne Ports (VIC)

ALP

73.3

5.1

12.3

1.7

6.7

0.9

100.0

3796.1

Menzies (VIC)

LIB

72.0

4.8

13.1

3.1

6.0

1.0

100.0

2985.3

Mitchell (NSW)

LIB

78.5

4.7

10.1

2.1

3.7

0.8

100.0

3156.5

Moncrieff (QLD)

LIB

63.1

7.5

12.9

2.6

12.6

1.4

100.0

2482.0

Moore (WA)

LIB

77.9

7.2

5.8

1.7

6.1

1.2

100.0

2369.9

Moreton (QLD)

LIB

75.0

5.6

8.2

2.0

8.6

0.5

100.0

2483.0

Murray (VIC)

LIB

62.1

13.4

7.7

2.2

14.4

0.3

100.0

2151.7

New England (NSW)

IND

62.2

11.0

8.0

2.1

16.2

0.5

100.0

2059.7

Newcastle (NSW)

ALP

70.5

4.6

6.7

2.5

15.5

0.3

100.0

2436.1

North Sydney (NSW)

LIB

71.0

5.9

16.5

2.1

2.0

2.5

100.0

5709.9

O'Connor (WA)

LIB

56.3

17.2

12.1

1.4

12.5

0.5

100.0

2077.2

Oxley (QLD)

ALP

74.7

4.7

2.9

1.6

15.7

0.4

100.0

2254.3

Page (NSW)

NP

60.1

7.6

6.6

3.1

22.2

0.4

100.0

1762.0

Parkes (NSW)

NP

62.0

14.6

6.6

1.3

15.4

0.2

100.0

2121.7

Parramatta (NSW)

ALP

78.5

4.4

4.9

1.7

10.0

0.4

100.0

2820.1

Paterson (NSW)

LIB

62.9

6.5

8.6

4.1

17.3

0.6

100.0

1952.1

Pearce (WA)

LIB

70.0

9.2

6.2

1.8

11.8

0.9

100.0

2099.1

Perth (WA)

ALP

71.6

6.8

7.1

1.8

12.0

0.8

100.0

2337.4

Petrie (QLD)

LIB

70.9

5.2

6.5

2.8

14.1

0.5

100.0

2204.1

Port Adelaide (SA)

ALP

68.3

4.7

3.9

1.9

20.7

0.4

100.0

2277.5

Prospect (NSW)

ALP

76.0

5.2

2.5

0.8

15.2

0.3

100.0

2342.6

Rankin (QLD)

ALP

75.4

6.2

2.9

0.9

14.3

0.4

100.0

2418.3

Reid (NSW)

ALP

76.4

4.6

3.1

1.3

14.3

0.3

100.0

2287.0

Richmond (NSW)

ALP

54.1

8.6

9.4

4.1

23.1

0.8

100.0

1798.0

Riverina (NSW)

NP

64.5

14.0

7.7

1.7

11.9

0.2

100.0

2374.9

Robertson (NSW)

LIB

70.2

6.4

7.6

3.3

11.9

0.7

100.0

2398.0

Ryan (QLD)

LIB

72.8

6.4

12.6

2.8

4.2

1.2

100.0

3222.6

Scullin (VIC)

ALP

78.6

3.8

4.0

1.2

12.0

0.3

100.0

2202.1

Shortland (NSW)

ALP

69.5

5.4

5.5

2.9

16.3

0.4

100.0

2101.5

Solomon (NT)

CLP

82.6

4.4

2.5

1.7

8.6

0.3

100.0

1833.0

Stirling (WA)

LIB

69.8

6.5

7.8

2.7

12.4

0.8

100.0

2447.2

Sturt (SA)

LIB

64.1

7.0

13.6

3.8

10.6

1.0

100.0

2943.4

Swan (WA)

ALP

72.8

5.6

7.2

2.2

11.2

1.0

100.0

2422.8

Sydney (NSW)

ALP

78.4

5.5

8.0

0.9

5.8

1.3

100.0

4955.0

Tangney (WA)

LIB

71.8

6.1

9.8

2.8

8.2

1.3

100.0

2560.3

Throsby (NSW)

ALP

76.1

3.8

4.1

1.6

14.0

0.3

100.0

2298.7

Wakefield (SA)

LIB

66.2

8.0

3.7

2.1

19.3

0.6

100.0

2101.8

Wannon (VIC)

LIB

57.2

17.6

8.9

2.3

13.7

0.3

100.0

2158.6

Warringah (NSW)

LIB

69.5

6.4

16.3

2.6

2.6

2.6

100.0

4941.8

Watson (NSW)

ALP

74.3

5.2

5.4

1.7

13.1

0.4

100.0

2432.0

Wentworth (NSW)

LIB

61.8

7.3

24.1

1.7

2.8

2.3

100.0

5731.3

Werriwa (NSW)

ALP

80.5

4.5

2.0

0.8

11.9

0.2

100.0

2518.8

Wide Bay (QLD)

NP

58.2

7.6

5.3

2.7

25.6

0.6

100.0

1656.2

Wills (VIC)

ALP

72.6

3.8

5.0

2.1

15.9

0.5

100.0

2561.5

Australian Bureau of Statistics, Experimental Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, Taxation and Income Support Data (Cat. No. 6524.0.55.001), Canberra, 2005.
Some government cash benefits have been excluded from the estimates of income which people received in 2000–01. Excluded are pensions and allowances paid by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and Community Development Employment Projects administered by the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations.
The average income of each electorate was obtained by dividing the total income from all sources by the population of persons aged 15 years and over.

For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.