Introduction
The family plays an important role in Australian society. Couples, parents, children, and other relatives provide nurturing relationships and economic support to one another as families. The significance of the family to the well-being of society as a whole, is recognised by Commonwealth and State government agencies and a wide range of policies and programs are directed towards supporting families. Within families children, because of their vulnerability and dependent status, are a group of particular concern.
Useful information on families or family relationships are available from most ABS household surveys, associated publications and social reports. Periodically, the ABS also conducts dedicated family surveys to meet user needs for more comprehensive data. In selecting entries for this directory priority was given to those ABS collections which provide information on the roles and functions of the family or on government policies and programs which support families.
DEFINING FAMILIES
In ABS collections families comprise two or more related persons who live in the same household. No definition is perfect, and the description and classification of complex social phenomena necessarily involves compromises. This process is apparent in ABS definitions of the family, family relationships and children. The ABS acknowledges that, irrespective of our living arrangements, we are all members of families and important family relationships extend across households. However, because of the practical constraints inherent in conducting household-based surveys and consistent with international standards, the ABS definition of the family is restricted to the relationships among people who usually live in the same household and excludes people who live alone.
Definitions for key family related variables are included in Appendix 1 Data Definitions. Further information on concepts and classifications which relate to data on children and the family, and which are used throughout ABS social statistics, are published in Standards for Statistics on the Family (Cat. no. 1286.0).
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The Directory of Child and Family Statistics describes sources of data available from the Monthly Population Survey, Special Social Surveys, the Population Survey Monitor, the Census of Population and Housing and administrative by-product collections. For details Appendix 2 Data Collection Methods.
Over the past eighteen months, the ABS has undertaken a comprehensive review of its household surveys program. From 2001 an expanded program of household surveys, which addresses the highest priority demands of key users, including those not met by the previous program, will be introduced. The expansion of the ABS household surveys program should provide greater opportunities for the collection of data about children and families. It may also result in changes to the content and frequency of collections shown in this directory. Electronic updates of the Directory of Child and Family Statistics will reflect these changes.
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