5.1 introduction
A significant amount of information was obtained from the questionnaire survey. This chapter outlines the objectives of the survey, discusses how responding businesses and organisations were classified, and presents a profile of the responding organisations.
5.1.1 Objectives of the Survey
As has already been mentioned, our survey was significantly influenced by what has come before. To some considerable extent, the design of our survey instrument was influenced by the ACF/ACTU Green Jobs in Industry report. As with the 1994 report, the purpose of our survey was to ascertain employment levels, employment trends, and occupational characteristics.
In a number of respects, however, our survey attempted to do more. In addition to the above, we were also interested in:
5.1.2 Categorisation of Organisations
A number of different categorisations were used in our survey, and subsequent analysis. We made a specific distinction between 'environmental organisations' already contained on the Enviroworks database, and 'general business' firms.
We are also able to analyse the results according to 'sector' (local government, community organisation, state government agency, commonwealth government agency, or private firm), and 'occupation' (defined by broad ANSZIC code areas).
Unlike the ACF/ACTU study where organisations working in different industry sectors were given different survey questions, all 351 respondents to our questionnaire answered the same questions.
| 13 Annandale, D., 1999, Enviroworks: The Potential for Green Jobs in Western Australia. A Report for the Department of Education and Training 14 Ellyard, P. 1998, Ideas for the New Millenium. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press |
The Earth Repair Sector
Ellyard (1998) defines the "earth repair industry" as that which restores and rehabilitates degraded, polluted or even totally obliterated ecosystems such as rainforests, coral reefs and rangelands, and their soil, water and biotic components. In practical terms it involves remediation of damaged areas, such as contaminated sites, so that they can be used again without threatening human health. It also involves the restoration of degraded areas so as to return them to something like their original ecological health.
The Environmental Survey Industry Sector
Ellyard (1998) defines this industry sector as assessing, monitoring and auditing of ecosystems. He states that it works from the macro-level (for example, through the use of satellites for remote sensing from space) down to the micro-level where molecular contamination might be surveyed. The purpose of the industry sector is to provide information on the state of environmental resources. In practical terms it involves activities such as remote sensing, mapping, techniques for monitoring air, water and land, and analysis of samples from these media.
The Resource Renewal Industry Sector
The resource renewal industry sector as defined by Ellyard (1998) involves anything to do with the reduction, reuse, or recycling of what is traditionally known as "waste".In practical terms, this report considers this sector to cover all innovations associated with waste management (ie the management of waste at the end of the production or consumption process), clean production (ie innovations associated with increasing material efficiency in the production of goods), and recycling/reuse (ie the collection, transportation, sorting and processing of waste materials for use in the manufacture of products).
The Sustainable Energy Industry Sector
Ellyard (1998) defines this sector to include research, development and marketing of energy products that are based on renewable resources. He also defines it to mean improvements in the efficiency of current energy systems, through better process technology and conservation.In practical terms, this report considers the industry sector to focus on renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and biomass as well as conservation initiatives.
The Sustainable Communities and Cities Industry Sector
In this report we define this sector to focus on the design of sustainable communities. Ellyard (1998) talks of the guiding science for this sector as being "human ecology", which integrates the work of the architectural, building, industrial design and planning professions in the design and construction of sustainable schools, shopping centres, transport systems, homes, and commercial buildings.
The Clean, Green Food and Sustainable Agriculture Industry Sector
This industry sector is defined by Ellyard (1998) to include the production and processing of food that this uncontaminated by toxic substances, pesticides and radioactive materials. The "green" aspect means that it is produced in ecologically sustainable ways. The industry uses mineral fertilisers and natural soil nutrient cycles, and reuses and recycles waste products such as garbage and sewage.From now on these six industry sectors will be described for brevity's sake as the "Ellyard" sectors.
Table 2: Profile of Respondents to the Green Jobs Survey (Survey Questions 1,2, and 3)
| Total No. of Organisations in Survey Sample | 351 | |
| 'Environmental Sector' | 'General Business Sector' | |
| Number Organisations | 251 | 100 |
| Private or Public Organisations | 107 (42.7%) public sector organisations 22 (8.8%) were community organisations 122 (48.6%) were private firms | All were private firms |
| Employer Size | 61% employed 0 - 10 people 13% employed 10 - 20 people 18% employed 20 - 100 people 8% employed > 100 people | 67% employed 0 - 10 people 20% employed 10 - 20 people 11% employed 20 - 100 people 2% employed > 100 people |
| `Environmental Sector' Organisations Number of Employers According to Amended Ellyard Category | 27 Earth Repair firms 17 Environmental Survey firms 50 Resource Renewal firms 23 Sustainable Energy firms 18 Sustainable Communities & Cities firms 26 Clean Green Agriculture firms 14 Ecotourism firms 67 Government & regulatory organisations 9 Other | |
| Industry Sector | 52 Govt./admin./defence 47 Agriculture/fishing/forestry 20 Construction 20 Mining/mineral processing 19 Other 18 Manufacturing 15 Education/health/community 13 Cultural and recreational services 12 Property and business services 11 Finance and insurance 7 Electricity/gas/water 4 Retail trade 4 Transport and storage 3 Wholesale trade 2 Accommodation/café/restaurant 2 Communication services 2 Personal and other services | 15 Manufacturing 12 Construction 12 Mining/mineral processing 9 Retail trade 9 Property and business services 8 Wholesale trade 6 Finance and insurance 5 Personal and other services 5 Cultural and recreational services 4 Accommodation/café/restaurant 4 Transport and storage 3 Communication services 3 Agriculture/fishing/forestry 3 Education/health/community 2 Other |
As indicated in Table 2, 107 responding organisations were government agencies of some kind. The analysis that follows includes 'Government and Regulatory' organisations as a separate industry sector, the argument being that many of these respondents will employ people in more than one of the six Ellyard sub-sectors. A Local Government authority, for example, might have Biodiversity Officers (as indicated by the Perth Biodiversity Project summary presented in Section 1.1.2) who would be considered to work in Earth Repair, and Waste Management Officers who would fit into the Resource Renewal Ellyard category. In addition, our survey also identified respondents who considered themselves to be involved in the 'Ecotourism' sector. Ellyard did not discuss this sector in his work, but we have added it because a number of respondents described their operations as best fitting this category.
The respondents in the survey sample are dominated by small business. For the environmental sector organisations, 74% employ less than 20 people. The ACF/ACTU study outlined in section 3.1.1 had only 58% of responding organisations with less than 20 people. This phenomenon is even more pronounced for the 100 'general business' firms. For this group, 87% employed less than 20 people. These statistics are to be expected, given the predominance of the small business sector in WA, compared with the Eastern States.
Second, the environmental sector sample is dominated by Government/regulatory organisations (67 employers), and resource renewal firms (50 employers). The other amended Ellyard sectors are relatively evenly spread.
The 'deeper' analysis focuses in the main on the 251 environmental sector responses. This is because the general business sample of 100 firms contained only a small number who indicated that they employed environmental staff. As a consequence, it made little sense to attempt to analyse this sample according to the amended Ellyard categories.