Estimates are for households and persons resident in private dwellings. Estimates are based on 1537 households in Sydney and 1093 households in the balance of NSW.
Source:
ABS Household Income and Income Distribution, Australia, 2003-04 (Catalogue no. 6523.0)
Income is one of the main determinants of poverty, which is closely linked to poor health.
In NSW in 2003-04 the mean or average income per week was $1,212. In Sydney the mean income per week ($1,360) was 40% higher than in the rest of NSW ($974).
The median income (where half of the households have an income above and half below the median) was $970 and in Sydney ($1,125) was almost twice as high has in the rest of NSW ($770).
Disposable income is gross income less the value of income tax and Medicare levy to be paid on the gross income and is a better indicator of the resources available to a household to maintain its standard of living. Equivalised disposable household income adjusts the disposable income of a household for the number of people living in a household, with the weighting for adults being higher (0.5) than for dependent children (0.3) (ABS, 2005). In contrast with the mean gross income, the mean equivalised disposable income in Sydney was only 26% higher ($618 per week) than that for the rest of NSW ($492 per week).
In NSW in 2003-04 the source of more than half of household incomes (58.4%) was from wages and salaries. In Sydney the proportion of income derived from wages and salaries accounted for 64.4% of total household incomes while 21.3% was derived from government pensions and allowances. Comparative proportions for the rest of NSW are 48.7% and 35.1%. Negative income such as losses in household investments was estimated for 0.4% of NSW households in 2003-04.
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Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales -
Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/soc/soc_income_loc.htm. Accessed (insert date of access).
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