Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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DATA ITEMS

A detailed list of the data items and categories for the Basic and Expanded CURFs has been released on the ABS website <www.abs.gov.au> in spreadsheet format. The majority of data items on the CURFs are the same as collected and output on the main survey file. In a small number of instances it was necessary to remove items or to reduce the level of information available on the CURFs for confidentiality reasons. Where information on the CURFs differs to the main survey file, this is noted as 'Not on the CURF' or the details of the CURF output items are included on the data item list. Refer to the Basic/Expanded CURF SAS name and CURF item (including response categories) on the data items list for more information.

Additionally, some of the data items included on the CURFs, and the categories within the data items, differ between the Basic and Expanded CURFs. The Expanded CURF contains more variables than the Basic CURF, as well as more detailed response categories for selected variables. The differences between the CURFs are highlighted in the data item list.


Key differences between the CURFs

Demographic items

Most of the differences between the Basic and Expanded CURFs relate to the amount of detail available for the demographic items. The following table provides an overview of the key differences.

1. KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CURFS, by demographic items
	Item	Basic CURF	Expanded CURF
Household level
	State/Territory	-	NSW, Qld, Vic, SA, WA, Tas, NT, ACT
	Number of persons in household	6 categories	8 categories
	Number of adults in household	4 categories	5 categories
	Number of children aged 0-17 years in household	4 categories	5 categories
	Family composition of household	8 categories	11 categories
	Index of disadvantage (CD level)	Deciles	Deciles
	Capital city/Rest of State	-	Capital city, Balance of State
	ASGC remoteness area category	-	Major cities, Inner regional, Other areas
	Gross weekly cash income of household in deciles	-	Deciles
	Gross weekly cash income of household	-	Continuous income $ (perturbed)
	Gross weekly equivalised cash income of household	-	Continuous income $ (perturbed)
Person level
	Social marital status	-	Not applicable, Married, Not married
	Country of birth of person/father/mother	3 categories	20 categories
	Main language other than English spoken at home (ASCL)	-	9 categories
	Level of highest non-school qualification	9 categories	10 categories
	Highest level of post-school educational attainment	7 categories	9 categories
	Occupation	10 categories	53 categories
	Industry	21 categories	70 categories
	Personal gross weekly cash income	-	Continuous income $ (perturbed)
	Personal gross weekly cash income in deciles	-	Deciles
Note: - not available

Service use items

There are also differences between the Basic and Expanded CURFs for items related to service use in the Health Service Utilisation module, including:

• the number of times a person was admitted to hospital for physical health problems in the 12 months prior to interview;
• the total number of nights a person was admitted to hospital for physical health problems in the 12 months prior to interview;
• the number of consultations with a [health professional] for physical or mental health in the 12 months prior to interview;
• the number of consultations with a [health professional] for mental health in the 12 months prior to interview; and
• the age first time consulted with a [health professional] about mental health problems.

• General Practitioners (GPs);
• Psychiatrists;
• Psychologists;
• Mental health nurses;
• Other professionals (specialist mental health);
• Specialist doctors/surgeons;
• Other professionals (general); and
• Alternative therapists.