Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06)

Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06)

The Australian Socioeconomic Index 2006 (AUSEI06) is the latest in the series of ANU occupational status scales. These scales provide a simple means for researchers to convert data coded in accordance with the official occupational classifications of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) into occupational status scores. They have been widely used in a range of disciplines over the past 40 years.

AUSEI06 is intended for use with data coded in accordance with the first edition of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). The scale is a continuous measure which ranges from 0 (low status) to 100 (high status). It can be applied to men and women, part-time and full-time workers, the self-employed and employees. Like all occupation-based measures, scores can only be directly assigned to persons in employment. However, in the absence of other information such as previous occupation or spouse's occupation, an AUSEI06 score can be imputed if a person's education level is known.

AUSEI06 scores are available for all ANZSCO major, sub-major, minor, and unit group codes. However, researchers are strongly urged to code occupational data to the ANZSCO unit group level in order to permit use of the full version of the scale.

The AUSEI06 scale is available for download in a variety of formats (SAS, SPSS, and EXCEL).

Files to convert ANZSCO data into AUSEI06 scores

Files to convert data coded at the ANZSCO major, sub-major, minor, and unit group levels into AUSEI06 scores can be obtained by following the links below.

The AUSEI06 scores in the ANZSCO major, sub-major, and minor group conversion files are the mean AUSEI06 scores for the unit groups that make up each aggregate group, weighted by the number of persons in those unit groups.

The ANZSCO unit group conversion files contain direct estimates for all unit groups. As data coded at the ANZSCO unit group level sometimes include cases which can only be accurately coded at one of the more aggregated ANZSCO levels, AUSEI06 scores for all major, sub-major, and minor groups are also included in the unit group conversion files. Most but not all AUSEI06 scores in the unit group conversion files are identical to the weighted estimates for corresponding groups found in the ANZSCO major, sub-major, and minor group conversion files. It is important that researchers select the conversion file corresponding to the most detailed level of ANZSCO in their data.

Further information on the development and use of AUSEI06 can be found in Julie McMillan, Adrian Beavis, & Frank L. Jones, (2009) 'The AUSEI06: A new socioeconomic index for Australia' Journal of Sociology. Vol 45(2): 123-149.

ANZSCO major group (1-digit level) – AUSEI06 conversion files

• SAS syntax
• SPSS syntax
• EXCEL spreadsheet

ANZSCO sub-major group (2-digit level) – AUSEI06 conversion files

• SAS syntax
• SPSS syntax
• EXCEL spreadsheet

ANZSCO minor group (3-digit level) – AUSEI06 conversion files

• SAS syntax
• SPSS syntax
• EXCEL spreadsheet

ANZSCO unit group (4-digit level) – AUSEI06 conversion files

• SAS syntax
• SPSS syntax
• EXCEL spreadsheet

Earlier ANU scales (ANU1-ANU4) are also available for download.

Suggested citation: Julie McMillan, Adrian Beavis, & Frank L. Jones, (2009) 'The AUSEI06: A new socioeconomic index for Australia' Journal of Sociology. Vol 45(2): 123-149.