Australian Bureau of Statistics
Celebrating the International Year of Statistics 2013

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INTRODUCTION

This document outlines statistical requirements for overseas arrivals and departures data and covers the major uses, item justification and outward passenger card. The outward passenger card is specifically addressed, as questions on the justification for such card have been raised in the context of a proposal to combine Australian and New Zealand passenger cards.

Information provided by incoming and outgoing passenger cards currently represents the major source of overseas arrivals and departures data.


MAJOR USES

Overseas arrivals and departures data are mainly used to compile statistics on Australia's population, balance of payments and international tourism.

Estimates of the Australian population are used for a number of important public purposes including setting the number of seats for each State in the House of Representatives and the allocation of funds to the States. Estimates of the resident population by country of birth and by registered marital status are also produced. In the five-year period 1996-2000, there were 1.4 million long-term and permanent arrivals in, and 0.9 million long-term and permanent departures from Australia.

Overseas arrivals and departures data are an important, and timely, source of data for Australia's balance of payments transactions (International Trade in Goods and Services (ABS Cat. no. 5368.0) and Balance of Payments and International Investment Position (Cat. no. 5302.0)). These data are mainly used in the compilation of travel services (broken down into business, education-related and other) and compensation of employees (earnings in Australia and abroad) estimates. In 2000-01, the value of transactions calculated using overseas arrivals and departures data represented about 11 per cent of all credits and 7 per cent of all debits in Australia's current account. Overseas arrivals and departures data are also used in the estimation of migrants' transfers credits in the Capital Account. In addition overseas arrivals and departures data are indirectly used as input to other balance of payments calculations.

Travel estimates also use per capita expenditure data from the International Visitors Survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research (which uses overseas arrivals and departures data) and the Survey of Returned Australian Travellers conducted by the the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Passenger cards are essential for the Survey of Returned Australian Travellers as they are used to define the survey's population and to select a representative sample.

International tourism in Australia is currently experiencing rapid growth. Overseas arrivals and departures data are required by Governments to examine the impact of tourism on policy issues such as infrastructure and the labour market, monitor and analyse tourism trends for tourism marketing strategies and establish future directions. Providers of services such as airlines and other transport groups, tourist attractions, hotel groups and tourism retailers are major users of overseas arrivals and departures data which are required, with other sources of data, for market research. In 1997-98, international tourism contributed $5.3 billion, or 1 % of Gross Domestic Product (Australian National Accounts: Tourism Satellite Account (ABS Cat. no. 5249.0)).

For international tourism, overseas arrivals and departures data are critical to the operation of the International Visitors Survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research.


ITEM JUSTIFICATION

Each data item collected for overseas arrivals and departures is discussed below, with the exception of Family name, Given names and questions asked on customs and excise, quarantine, currency, health and character included on incoming passenger cards and the currency question on outgoing passenger cards, for which there are no statistical requirements.

The collection of data from travellers on both arrival and departure is important for timely data on all types of movements, and for the identification of 'category jumpers' (travellers whose travel intentions changed from short-term to permanent or long-term or vice versa) which affect estimates of the population. Although the incoming and outgoing passenger cards are very similar, of the 17 data items discussed in this paper, only six data items, relating to personal characteristics, are collected from identical questions on both cards. The remaining data items are collected from questions which are different but equivalent on incoming and outgoing cards. These relate to the characteristics of the particular journey.

The sources of data are the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Travel and Immigration Processing System (TRIPS), passenger cards and passenger cards batch headers.


OVERSEAS ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES DATA FROM DEPARTMENT OF IMMIGRATION AND MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS

SUMMARY OF SOURCES AND STATISTICAL USES

DATA ITEM	SOURCE	QUESTION WORDING ON PASSENGER CARDS	USES
Citizenship (Nationality)	TRIPS for those travelling on a visa. Passenger cards for other travellers.	Q. Nationality/Citizenship as shown in passport	Used as basis for sample stratification for short-term movements. Formulating and monitoring of numerous government policies and programs relating to migrants.
Country of Birth	TRIPS for those travelling on a visa.	Q. Country of Birth	The one stable geographic reference through a person's life, it enables an understanding of types of people who are moving that citizenship does not give. Allows estimation of Australian population by country of birth for intercensal years. Formulating and monitoring of numerous government policies and programs relating to migrants.
Age (Date of birth)	TRIPS for those travelling on a visa. Passenger cards for other travellers Eg New Zealand citizens and Australian passport holders.	Q. Date of birth (day, month, year)	Used to calculate age in completed years. Age and sex variables widely used with other traveller characteristics by statistical, immigration and tourism authorities. Age and sex variables used for permanent and long-term movements in production of accurate population estimates. Age and sex variables used indirectly in balance of payments calculations.
Sex	TRIPS for those travelling on a visa.	Q. Sex (Male/female)
Marital status	TRIPS for those travelling on a visa (not available for Australian or New Zealand citizens)		Registered marital status is a basic demographic characteristic. Data is used by ABS in production of an estimated resident population by marital status series. Useful in regard to marital dissolution as a precipitator of migration. Used in research of characteristics of tourists.
Category of travel	Passenger cards	Incoming Passenger Card: Q. Please x and answer A or B or C: A Migrating permanently to Australia B Visitor or temporary entrant C Resident returning to Australia Do you intend to live in Australia for the next 12 months? Outgoing Passenger Card Q. Please x and answer D or E or F: D Visitor or temporary entrant departing E Australian resident departing temporarily F Australian resident departing permanently See also Intended length of stay and Actual length of stay below	This is the fundamental classification to meaningfully interpret the data and allow the differentiation between short-term, long-term visitor or resident movements and permanent movements for arrivals and departures. Federal, State and Local Government require information by type of movement for decision making, such as tourism, infrastructure etc. Government and private tourism authorities are interested in short-term movements for policy, market research, promotional campaigns etc. Accurate data required on those 'migrating' to Australia who do not need a visa eg New Zealand citizens Impacts on the derivation of travel and unrequited transfer estimates used in balance of payments. Data required to align with balance of payments concepts of residents and non-residents.
Intended length of stay	Passenger cards	Incoming Passenger Card: Q. Your intended length of stay in Australia - years, months OR days (visitor or temporary migrant) Outgoing Passenger Card: Q. Intended length of stay overseas years, months OR days (residents departing temporarily)	Categorises movements into short and long-term. Movements of more than one year and a % of movements of one year exactly are treated as long-term and are included in population estimates. Data required to align with balance of payments concepts of residents and non-residents. Used to assess 'category jumpers' for population estimates. Government authorities and other parties are interested in Intended length of stay for education and employment purposes. Government and private tourism authorities are interested in Intended length of stay of visitors.
Actual length of stay	TRIPS		Used for number of travellers and migrants for input into balance of payments. Data required to align with balance of payments concepts of residents and non-residents. Helps to classify type of movement and is important for the accurate compilation of population estimates. Government authorities and other parties are interested in Intended length of stay for education and employment purposes. Required to assess the extent of category jumping. Users requiring data on tourism use this information.
Main reason for journey	Passenger cards	Q. Your main reason for coming to Australia/ Main reason for overseas travel (x one only) Convention/conference Business Visiting friends or relatives Employment Education Exhibition Holiday Other	Information is used by Government tourism authorities for stratifying survey samples (International Visitors Survey conducted by the Bureau of Tourism Research). For tourism purposes this is the single most important item on the passenger card. Separate identification of students (using Education response) is very important for balance of payment calculations as separate expenditure estimates of people travelling to and from Australia for educational purposes are published. Government authorities and other parties are interested in reason for journey for education and employment purposes.
Country	Passenger cards. For a visitor or temporary entrant departing, the country of residence is derived from the incoming passenger card.	Incoming Passenger Card: Q. Country where you spent most time abroad (resident returning to Australia) Q. Your country of residence (visitors) Outgoing Passenger Card: Q. Country where you will spend most time abroad (Australian residents departing temporarily) Q. What is your country of future residence (Australian residents departing permanently)	Used to cross-classify with types of movement. Country of residence of visitors is critical for tourism research. Country where you will spend most time abroad is used for tourism research. Country of future residence data are used indirectly in balance of payments calculations. Permanent and long-term movements are useful in monitoring population flows to and from Australia.
Occupation	Passenger cards (not available for short-term movements)	Q.What is your usual occupation?	Used to monitor the supply and demand for labour and supplies input to the development of various policies and programs by Department of Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (DEWRSB) and DIMA.
State or Territory of intended address	Incoming passenger card	Q. Intended address in Australia.	Regional information important for tourism analysis and governments. State level details for permanent and long-term travellers required for population estimates purposes. Following census years residents returning to Australia who were absent at the time of the census are coded down to the Statistical Local Area level for population estimate purposes. Full address is required for details of overseas expenditure for the purposes of Balance of Payments calculations, and for surveys of returning travellers. Balance of Payments require the full address to conduct the Survey of Returned Australian Travellers. State or Territory of intended address is a high priority for permanent and long-term movements.
State in which most time spent/State or Territory lived	Outgoing passenger card	Q. City or State where you spent most time (visitors) Q. In which State do you live (Australian residents departing temporarily) Q. In which State did you live (Australian residents departing permanently)	Important for government and tourist authorities. Area details for permanent and long-term travellers are used for population estimates at the State and Territory level.
Arrival/departure date	Passenger cards batch headers	Date of movement recorded on TRIPS database. Date recorded on passenger cards.	This is a fundamental classification. Date of movement is used to classify movements by month, quarter and year. Used with date of birth to calculate age at movement. This information is widely used by statistical, immigration and tourism authorities.
Flight Number/Name of Ship	Passenger cards batch headers	Q. Flight number or name of ship.	Used for administrative purposes monitoring airline agreements. Useful in enabling quality checks to be undertaken on the processing of the cards.
Country of embarkation/ disembarkation	Passenger cards	Incoming Passenger card: Q. In which country did you board this flight or ship? Outgoing Passenger card: Q. Country where you will get off this flight	Of use to tourism authorities.
Airport/Port of arrival/departure	Passenger cards batch headers		Provides detail on traffic for the benefit of airports, hotels, tourist authorities.