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Core Activity Need for Assistance

Core Activity Need for Assistance (ASSNP)

The Census 'Core Activity Need for Assistance' (ASSNP) concept was developed for the 2006 Census to indicate the disability status of people in Australia according to geographic area, and for small groups within the population. Of all ABS collections of disability data, only the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) is considered to comprehensively measure disability populations, and to provide rates of prevalence at the national and state levels. The Census concept ASSNP is related to the 'disability status' information collected in the SDAC. The purpose of the Census is to identify people with a 'profound or severe core activity limitation' using similar criteria to the SDAC. This population is defined as people with a disability who need assistance in their day to day lives with any or all of the following core activities - self care, body movements or communication.

The non-response rate for the Census variable ASSNP was 5.7% in 2011 compared with 6.4% in 2006. More information is available from the 2011 Census non-response quality statement.

The Census uses a set of four questions to capture 'Core Activity Need for Assistance' (questions 20 to 23 on the Census Household Form). Responses to the questions are captured automatically from mark box responses where the risk of processing error is low. Sample checks are undertaken to ensure an acceptable level of quality. Responses to the individual questions are then combined to produce the single variable, Core Activity Need for Assistance.

It is not possible to obtain information about need for assistance for the core activities separately. Users wanting more comprehensive information about the disability status of people in Australia should instead refer to the publication Disability, Ageing and Carers, Australia: Summary of Findings, 2009 (cat. no. 4430.0). Despite the conceptual consistency of the measures in the Census and SDAC, abbreviating the set of questions used to collect data on disability, as required for the Census, reduces the number of people who can be classified as having a disability or to a particular level of disability, depending on the concept being collected. The publication, ABS Sources of Disability Information, 2003-2008 (cat. no. 4431.0.55.002) examines the different ABS sources of disability data.

More information on ASSNP is available in the 2011 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0).

Questions 20 to 23 as they appeared on the 2011 Census Household Form

Four Census questions are used to capture data for this variable.

Image of question 20, 21 and 22 from the 2011 Census
Image of question 23 from the 2011 Census
Text only versions of these questions are available.

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