2902.0 - Census Update (Newsletter), Mar 2003  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 28/03/2003   
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Census Corner

The 2001 Census and beyond.

In coming months, the last in a long line of census products and services will become available to the public. The ABS is proud of the fact that a large amount of the data and the majority of 2001 Census products and services have been released earlier than was initially planned. This commitment to ensuring early release of data has met with client approval Australia wide, as has the vast amount of data made accessible from the ABS web site. The data and information has been made available in a number of formats and via various mediums so that it can be accessed by the whole community.

While the last of the 2001 Census products will not be released until September 2003, planning for the Output strategies to be used for the 2006 Census have already commenced. Many of the field operations procedures are already being tested and assessed. In 2004/5 consultation will be undertaken to ensure census data users have the opportunity to have input to the development of products and services for the 2006 Census. They will be able to provide feedback on the 2001 Census output program. This will be instrumental in determining their future needs.

Products such as CDATA, the premier Census product, will be reviewed and consideration given to suggestions as to how this already first class product might be made even better.

Census for Schools was a new initiative from the 2001 Census, addressing the needs of teachers of studies in the areas of Society and Environment, Health and Physical Education, Geography, Business, Marketing and Mathematics, while allowing students to analyse and study census data in detail.

The 2001 Social Atlases provided extensive and interesting information on each State and Territory Capital City including topics such as Labour Force, Internet usage, Journey to Work and much more. The topics will be reviewed for 2006 ensuring that they remain relevant and that the Atlases are of the same high standard as those produced for 2001.

Similarly, the Socio-Economic Indexes For Areas (SEIFA), due for release in September 2003, recently underwent an extensive review with input from an array of experts and users. As with all other census product and services, the benefits and relevance of SEIFA will again be revisited as part of the planning undertaken for 2006.

Before one census cycle is completed the next begins. Users of census data can be assured that the output from the 2006 Census will be the same high quality as that produced for 2001.

If you require further information on any of the products and services from the 2001 Census, or any other ABS data, visit the ABS web site https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/d3310114.nsf/Home/census or call the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.