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Place of Usual Residence

This data quality statement applies to Place of Usual Residence (PURP) and Imputation Flag for Place of Usual Residence (IFPURP)

Place of Usual Residence (PURP, IFPURP)

Place of Usual Residence records the geographic area in which a person usually lives. The categories in this variable have changed to reflect the new Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) used for the 2011 Census. For more information refer to the 2011 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0). Provision is also made for persons who indicate that they have no usual place of residence.

The technical definition of usual residence refers to the address at which a person lives or intends to live for six months or more. Persons visiting Australia from another country for less than one year are considered overseas visitors. However, the data is self-reported and in some cases, the address that is reported may be that which respondents consider their 'usual address' rather than necessary meeting the technical definition.

For the 94.3% of persons who were at home on Census Night (i.e. where UAICP = 1), Place of Usual Residence is automatically derived from their Place of Enumeration. A further 1.0% of persons usually lived overseas, and their PURP is therefore coded as such. For the 4.7% of persons who lived elsewhere in Australia, the address details provided on the form were coded to a Mesh Block (MB) using automatic or clerical processes. Sample checks were conducted for all processes to ensure a high standard of quality.

If the Place of Usual Residence cannot be determined, then it is imputed. PURP is a hierarchical classification, ranging from the broadest geographical level (Australia) at the top of the hierarchy to the finest level (MB). The variable Imputation Flag for Place of Usual Residence (IFPURP) indicates if a person's place of usual residence was imputed in the Census, and to what level. There are four categories:
    01 Not imputed - State/territory, SA2 and SA1 stated
    02 SA1 imputed - State/territory and SA2 stated
    03 SA2 and SA1 imputed - State/territory and/or Capital City provided
    04 State/territory, SA2 and SA1 imputed

The imputation rate for PURP at the Statistical Area level 1 (SA1) was 3.9%. The majority of cases where PURP was imputed are attributable to persons that either did not return a form or returned a form but did not provide any usual address information. A smaller proportion provided address information that was not able to be coded to an SA1 but was able to be coded to a higher geographic level.

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

Question 8 as it appeared on the 2011 Census Household Form

Image of question 8 from the 2011 Census
A text only version of this question is also available


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2011 Census Dictionary

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