Census 2011 Topic Papers

The Census 2016 topic papers focus on the Greater Western Sydney [GWS] region and summarise regional data on:

  1. Measuring Social Isolation in Greater Western Sydney - February 2020
  2. Youthification and Greater Western Sydney - The Internal Migration of Young People - January 2020
  3. Homelessness Among At-Risk Groups in Greater Western Sydney - September 2019
  4. Transport & Travel to Work - August 2019
  5. Women in Greater Western Sydney - July 2019
  6. Non-Private Dwellings in Greater Western Sydney - May 2019
  7. Children 0-3 years old in Greater Western Sydney - May 2019
  8. Index of Household Advantage and Disadvantage – Implications for Greater Western Sydney - March 2019
  9. Ageing in Greater Western Sydney - March 2019
  10. Young Mothers in Greater Western Sydney - February 2019
  11. Housing in Greater Western Sydney - February 2019
  12. Disability and Need For Assistance With Core Activities In Greater Western Sydney - October 2018
  13. Estimated Residential Population Brief 2016-2017 - July 2018
  14. Socio-Economic Index for Areas in Greater Western Sydney - August 2018
  15. Individual Weekly Income, Employment and Unpaid Work In Greater Western Sydney - July 2018
  16. Estimating Homelessness In Greater Western Sydney - July 2018
  17. Higher Education In Greater Western Sydney - January 2018
  18. Schooling In Greater Western Sydney - January 2018
  19. TEI Priority Groups of Greater Western Sydney - 2016
  20. Religious Affiliation In Greater Western Sydney - 2016
  21. Indigenous Population of Greater Western Sydney - 2016
  22. Cultural & Linguistic Diversity In Greater Western Sydney - 2016
  23. Household & Family Composition In Greater Western Sydney - 2016
  24. Population of Greater Western Sydney - November 2017
  25. Greater Western Sydney: A First Look at the Data - 2016

The second major set of data from the 2011 Census was released at the end of October. This release contains information for all geographies [including suburbs, postcodes, LGAs, and major regions] about employment / unemployment; occupations; industry of employment; educational qualifications; mode of journey to work; and lots more.

With the release of this data for TableBuilder access last week, WESTIR now has access to most of the major sets of data from 2011 Census. Remaining data will become available in first half of 2013. This includes: SEIFA [Socio-Economic Indices for Areas]; origin-destination for Journeys to work; and counts for mesh blocks [the smallest geographic level for the Census].

As always, WESTIR is available to help you find your way around the vast and mazelike Aust Bureau of Statistics website – so you can find the data you need. We can also help to extract the data you need for your agency or service planning, etc.

 

The Census 2011 topic papers focus on the Greater Western Sydney [GWS] region and summarise regional data on:

  1. Population & Demographics
  2. Family & Household Composition
  3. Indigenous Communities
  4. Income
  5. Estimating Homelessness in Greater Western Sydney
  6. Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in GWS
  7. Detention Centres and the Census [about how folks in detention centres are counted in the Census]
  8. Housing
  9. Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA) 2011
  10. Basics of SEIFA
  11. LGBTIQ & The Census

 

This work is Copyright. Apart from use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part can be reproduced by any process without the written permission from the Executive Officer of WESTIR Ltd.

All possible care has been taken in the preparation of the information contained in this publication. However, WESTIR Ltd expressly disclaims any liability for the accuracy and sufficiency of the information and under no circumstances shall be liable in negligence or otherwise in or arising out of the preparation or supply of any of the information

WESTIR Ltd is partly funded by the NSW Department of Family and Community Services.

In this article we present some of the key reference materials for making sense of the 2011 Census and for providing an information base to the statistics of the Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], in general.

ABS is to be congratulated for making the vast majority of 2011 Census data available FOR FREE. There are some things that cost money, but these are normally for more advanced materials where the ABS has to do some type of higher level processing, or customize data for specific requests, or send out some form of media [like data on DVD].

Most of these reference materials are also available FOR FREE on ABS website, which is at:

www.abs.gov.au

The Census, being a flagship activity of the ABS, has its own Census homepage at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/census?opendocumentHYPERLINK "http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/census?opendocument&navpos=10"&HYPERLINK "http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/census?opendocument&navpos=10"navpos=10

This homepage has easy access to the range of data products including:

  • QuickStats – providing a simple set of summary statistics for an area;
  • The full range of Community Profiles – including Basic Community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Indigenous), Time Series, Place of Enumeration, Expanded Community, and Working Population. These profiles are all downloadable in Excel format so that data can be used in other applications or documents.
  • TableBuilder, which enables more experienced Census users to generate their own customised cross-tabulations
  • Data Packs, which have the detailed Census data for all levels and classifications of geography.

Note that all of these data are available for use under a Creative Commons license. Details of permitted uses are available from hyperlinks contained within the download files.

The Census homepage also has a short interactive video called ‘Spotlight’ [which looks at what the census data reveals and its uses]; reports on data quality; some analytical articles based on census outputs; and access to news about the Census.

An excellent starting point to get an overview of the whole Census process - including the history of Censuses in Australia; how the data is analysed; geography and changes from 2006; and lots more – is in How Australia Takes a Census, 2011 at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2903.0

The range of services and products from Census 2011 that will be available and when, is contained in the ABS Information Paper: Census of Population and Housing – Products & Services, 2011 at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2011.0.55.001

And if you really want to get seriously detailed about what it all means, then the 2011 Census Dictionary is for you. This is ‘the bible’ of each Census, and contains definitions of all the variables contained in census data, including the full set of sub-classifications and categories for each variable, and a host of other vital background info. Check out the Dictionary at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/2901.0

Each of these publications is mostly web-based, but they do have printable versions, normally in pdf format.

Although the bare bones of ABS classifications are contained in the Census Dictionary, if you want more information about these classifications [e.g. of geography, industry, occupations, languages, places of birth, religion, and so on] the full versions are contained in publications on the ABS site at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Methods,+Classifications,+Concepts+HYPERLINK "http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Methods,+Classifications,+Concepts+&+Standards?opendocument#from-banner=GT"&HYPERLINK "http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/D3310114.nsf/home/Methods,+Classifications,+Concepts+&+Standards?opendocument#from-banner=GT"+Standards?opendocument#from-banner=GT

Everyone should note that the ABS has recently dramatically revamped the standard geographic areas for which it presents data. This new Australian Statistical Geography Standard [ASGS] is quite different from the previous standard, but most of the administrative regions [including Local Government Areas and Postal Areas] that we use regularly will continue to be available from the Census. The new standard geography to be used by ABS is detailed in the ABS Geography page at:

http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/home/Geography

If you want some further assistance in accessing these materials, please contact WESTIR on (02) 9635 7764.