Archived content. See ABS Website for latest information and statistics
ABS Home

Census home > Data quality > Statements > Person

Usual Address Five Years Ago Indicator

Usual Address Five Years Ago Indicator (UAI5P)

This variable records whether a person lived in the same address five years ago as their current usual residence, whether they lived elsewhere in Australia five years ago, or whether they usually lived in another country five years ago. It is applicable for all usual residents of Australia, except for persons aged less than five years.

The question relating to Usual Address Five Years Ago Indicator (UAI5P) was first asked in the 1971 Census. Further information on Census Topics 1911-2011, can be found in How Australia Takes a Census (cat. no. 2903.0).

The non-response rate for this variable was 6.0% in 2011 (7.0% in 2006). More information is available from the 2011 Census non-response quality statement.

The responses to this question are captured automatically from mark box responses on the form so the risk of processing error is minimal. Sample checks are undertaken to ensure an acceptable level of quality. Where the indicator mark boxes have been left blank by a respondent but they have reported an address five years ago, UAI5P is derived based on the address reported. If the respondent does not report either the indicator or the address, they will be set to not stated. However, where a person who is aged under 20 years (ie they were aged under 15 one year ago) does not respond to the usual address five years ago question, but their parent(s) did respond, their UAI5P is set to the same value as their parent.

For Interviewer Household Forms (IHF), primarily used in discrete Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the response options on the form are different. Instead of asking if respondents lived in their place of usual residence five years ago, the form asks if people lived in 'this dwelling' (i.e. the dwelling in which they were enumerated), elsewhere in the community, or elsewhere in Australia. The data is re-derived to ensure that the data is comparable to those enumerated using other form types. For IHFs, mobility is considered at the community level rather than at the individual dwelling level.

In previous Censuses, there was a separate category for people who had the same address five years ago as for one year ago. This allowed users to differentiate between those people who lived at a different address five years ago and one year ago, and those who lived at the same address five years ago and one year ago. While the data is collected and processed in the same way as in 2006, this data is no longer publicly available as it is merged with 'elsewhere in Australia' prior to release.

More information on UAI5P is available in the 2011 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0).

Question 10 as it appeared on the 2011 Census Household Form

Data for this variable is derived from question 10 on the Census Household Form.

A text only version of this question is also available.


Back to Person classification

Statements

Person

Family

Household / Dwelling

2011 Census Dictionary

Archived content. See ABS Website for latest information and statistics