6503.0 - Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide, Australia, 2015-16  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 10/10/2017   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

CLASSIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS

The following classifications and standards have been utilised in the 2015–16 Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) and Household Expenditure Survey (HES):


GEOGRAPHY

Data collected in 2013-14 SIH and 2015–16 SIH and HES are based on the current Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and prior cycles are based on the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC). While the ASGS will give a better platform for the analysis of time series into the future, it will also create a break in time series at the sub-state level that were based on the ASGC.

The ASGS is the ABS' new geographical framework, which replaced the ASGC from July 2011.

The ASGS has been modified to extend beyond the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4). The new ASGS structure is based on the Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs). GCCSAs have been designed to provide a stable and consistent boundary that reflects the functional extent of each of Australia's capital cities. GCCSAs have been created using aggregations of whole SA4s which were designed to reflect the labour market. Hence, GCCSAs are quite different from SA4s since they cover an area outside of the capital city district of each state and territory. For more information refer to the publication Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2016 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001) and https://www.abs.gov.au/geography.

The ASGC provided a common framework of statistical geography which enabled the production of statistics that are comparable and can be spatially integrated. For more information refer to the publication Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0) and https://www.abs.gov.au/geography.

Geography items output from the SIH and HES include:

  • Remoteness Areas 2011
  • State or Territory of usual residence 2011
  • Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1) 2011
  • Index of relative socio-economic disadvantage - decile - Australia 2011
  • Index of relative socio-economic disadvantage - decile - state 2011
  • Index of relative socio-economic advantage/disadvantage - quintiles - Australia 2011
  • Greater Capital City Statistical Areas Code ASGS 2011
  • Metropolitan Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (Metro ARIA)

Metropolitan Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (Metro ARIA)

The Metropolitan Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (Metro ARIA) is a geographic index which quantifies service accessibility within metropolitan areas. The index reflects the ease or difficulty people face accessing basic services within metropolitan areas, derived from the measurement of road distances people travel to reach different services, and covers five different service themes:
  • education;
  • health;
  • shopping;
  • public transport; and
  • financial/postal services.

Metro ARIA covers 2011 Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) by 2011 Statistical Area 1. Areas outside GCCSAs are defined as non-metropolitan. Non-metropolitan should not be interpreted as lower accessibility; it is simply that the region is located outside the capture area detailed Metro ARIA. Further information regarding Metro ARIA and maps can be found via the following link: https://aurin.org.au/projects/data-hubs/metro-aria/

The Metropolitan Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (Metro ARIA) enables analysis of economic wellbeing and expenditure in relation to accessibility of services for metropolitan areas and summary results can be found in Household Expenditure Survey 2015–16, Summary of Results (cat. no. 6530.0).


COUNTRY OF BIRTH

The Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 2011 is the Australian statistical standard for social statistics classified by country and is intended for use in the collection, storage and dissemination of all Australian social statistical data classified by country.

The identification of country units in the classification, and the way in which they are grouped, does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the ABS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The ABS uses the SACC and promotes its use by other government agencies, private organisations, community groups, and individuals, where appropriate.

For more information refer to the publication Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), (cat. no. 1269.0).

Country of birth items output from the SIH and HES include:
  • Country of birth of HH reference person - 4 digit ASCC
  • Country of birth - 4 digit ASCC


EDUCATION ATTAINMENT

The Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) is a statistical classification for use in the collection and analysis of data on educational activity and attainment. The ASCED includes all sectors of the Australian education system; that is, schools, Vocational Education and Training and Higher education. ASCED is comprised of two component classifications: 'Level of Education' and 'Field of Education'. It provides a basis for comparable administrative and statistical data on educational activities and attainment classified by level and field.

Information relating to the conceptual basis of ASCED, the structure of the classification, definitions for all categories of level and field and concordances with other education classifications can be found in the publication Australian Standard Classification of Education (ASCED) (cat. no. 1272.0).

The educational attainment items available from the SIH and HES include:
  • Level of highest educational attainment
  • Main field of highest educational attainment - 6 digit ASCED


AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION (ANZSIC)

The ANZSIC has been jointly developed by the ABS and Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ). The ANZSIC provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis and dissemination of economic data on an industry basis for Australia and New Zealand. Use of the ANZSIC results in improved comparability of industry statistics produced by the two countries.

As well as being the standard industrial classification that underpins ABS and Statistics NZ industry statistics, the ANZSIC is widely used by government agencies, industry organisations and researchers for various administrative, regulatory, taxation and research purposes throughout Australia and New Zealand. Industry of main job is output from the SIH and HES at the 3 digit level.

For more information refer to the publication Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (Revision 2.0) (cat. no. 1292.0).


AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND STANDARD CLASSIFICATION OF OCCUPATIONS (ANZSCO)

The ANZSCO was the product of a development program undertaken jointly by a project team from the ABS, Statistics New Zealand (Statistics NZ) and the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations for use in the collection, publication and analysis of occupation statistics. ANZSCO provides a basis for the standardised collection, analysis and dissemination of occupation data for Australia and New Zealand. The use of ANZSCO has resulted in improved comparability of occupation statistics produced by the two countries.

ANZSCO is intended to provide an integrated framework for storing, organising and reporting occupation-related information in both statistical and client-oriented applications, such as matching job seekers to job vacancies and providing career information. Occupation of main job is output from the SIH and HES at the 6 digit level.

For more information refer to the publication ANZSCO - Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations, 2013, Version 1.2 (cat. no. 1220.0).


LANGUAGE

First language spoken and main language spoken at home are collected for all persons aged 15 and over in the 2015-16 SIH and HES. The Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) (cat. no. 1267.0) is used to classify languages for these data items and is coded at the 4 digit level for this classification.


EXPENDITURE

Expenditure is classified according to the HEC – for more detail, see Appendix 6 'Household Expenditure Classification'.

Most of the approximately 700 items included in the classification relate to expenditure on goods and services, which is the primary focus of the HES. The classification also includes 'selected other payments' which comprise income tax, repayments on mortgage principal for the household's place of residence, other housing costs of a capital nature such as internal renovations, superannuation and life insurance.

The commodity codes for the Household Expenditure Classification (HEC) are largely the same as in 2009-10 with a small number of changes, particularly to address emerging technologies and industries between the survey cycles. Estimates for previous cycles have been recompiled to reflect these changes at a broad expenditure level. The list of commodity codes for 2015-16 HES and a concordance with the 2009-10 HEC is included in Appendix 6 of this publication. The expenditure estimates have also been derived for the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP). The total expenditure estimates differ between the two classifications due to scope differences, in particular the COICOP includes estimates of imputed rent which are out of scope for the HEC. For more detail, see Appendix 8 'HEC and COICOP concordance'.


WEALTH CLASSIFICATION

The Wealth Classification is based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Framework for Statistics on the Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth and the OECD Guidelines for Micro Statistics on Household Wealth. It categorises various assets and liabilities that comprise net worth of a household or person.

OECD Framework for Statistics on the Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth

An internationally agreed framework to support the joint analysis of micro-level statistics on household income, consumption and wealth. Its aim is to extend the existing international frameworks for measuring household income and consumption at the micro level to include wealth, and describes income, consumption and wealth as three separate but interrelated dimensions of people’s economic well-being. The framework, prepared by an international expert group working under the auspices of the OECD, is intended to assist national statistical offices and other data producers to develop data sets at the household level that are suitable for integrated analysis, and for facilitating comparisons between countries. The Framework is widely applicable, with relevance to countries that are at different stages of statistical development, that have different statistical infrastructures, and that operate in different economic and social environments.

For more information refer to the publication OECD Framework for Statistics on the Distribution of Household Income, Consumption and Wealth (2013).

OECD Guidelines for Micro Statistics on Household Wealth

An internationally agreed set of guidelines for producing micro statistics on household wealth. It addresses the common conceptual, definitional and practical problems that countries face in producing such statistics, and are meant to improve the comparability of the currently available country data. The Guidelines, prepared by an international expert group working under the auspices of the OECD, propose a set of standard concepts, definitions and classifications for micro wealth statistics, and cover different phases in the statistical production process, including sources and methods for measuring particular forms of wealth, best practice in using household surveys or other sources to compile wealth statistics, the development of analytic measures, the dissemination of data, and data quality assurance.

For more information refer to the publication OECD Guidelines for Micro Statistics on Household Wealth (2013).