Aussies Now Using 25% More Electricity - ABS

Australian households are using 25% more electricity and 22% more gas, than they were ten years ago, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) latest Australian Social Trends.

The Australian Social Trends is released quarterly and draws on a range of data to present a picture of Australian society. It covers social issues of current and ongoing concern, population groups of interest, and changes over time.

ABS Director of Social and Progress Reporting Sue Taylor said “Households generally account for a quarter of Australia’s overall energy consumption, with industry responsible for the remainder".

“We found that the types of energy most commonly used by households were petrol and electricity, followed by natural gas," she said.

The ABS found that cost price and energy star rating were almost equally important to householders when they were purchasing new appliances.

As well, the publication shows that in 2011 around 1.1 million students were enrolled in higher education with over half of the students being women (57%).

An additional 1.9 million students were undertaking Vocational Education and Training with slightly more men (52%) than women (48%) enrolled.

“The most popular fields of study were Management and Commerce for women and Engineering and Technologies for men,” Taylor said.

In 2010-11, four out of five people reported working in a field that was the same as, or relevant to, their highest qualification. However, people working full time were more likely to be working in a field relevant to their qualifications (82%) than those working part time (71%).

The Education and Training industry had the highest proportion of people working in their field of highest qualification (91 per cent) closely followed by the Scientific and Technical Services industry (89%).

The full Australian Social Trends, Sept 2012 (4102.0) publication is available free at abs.gov.au