2 BRINGING TOGETHER 2011 CENSUS DATA WITH A SMALL NUMBER OF PREDETERMINED DATASETS DURING CENSUS PROCESSING USING NAME AND ADDRESS, TO CREATE STATISTICAL OUTPUTS

The ABS is intending to undertake two data integration projects associated with the 2011 Census of Population and Housing which will involve linking the Census to ABS and non-ABS datasets using name and address, to create statistical outputs. These are:

2.1 Indigenous Mortality Project
2.2 Enhancing Australia's Cancer Statistics Project

Each of these projects has been vetted to ensure the projects demonstrate significant potential community benefit; are statistically appropriate; cannot be done without name and/or address to bring the data together; and do not require identifiable information to be accessible outside the ABS. After careful consideration, the Australian Statistician has determined that each of these studies should proceed.

The key features of these projects are:

• once the purpose of each project has been met, all linked datasets will be destroyed;
• the projects can only be undertaken during the Census processing period when name and address are available;
• the linked datasets will not leave the ABS and will only be accessible by those ABS officers directly involved in the project; and
• the ABS will not retain Census name and address once Census processing is completed. The only exception is if a person explicitly agrees by answering the relevant question on the Census form to have their name-identified responses retained by the National Archives of Australia for release in 99 years time (see Glossary for further detail).

What has changed since the 2006 Census

The 2006 Census Data Enhancement (CDE) project made use of name and address information from the 2006 Census during the Census processing period to undertake a number of identified quality studies (see Appendix 1). These quality studies have demonstrated the potential for significant statistical improvements to be made by bringing together data from the Census with other datasets. The outputs of the quality studies in 2006 were used to improve statistics and test and report on linking methodology. After careful consideration, the Australian Statistician has decided to harness these improvements to create statistical outputs in aggregate form.

There will be no changes to the methodologies used in 2006 to bring together the datasets. Once the projects have fulfilled their purpose the linked datasets will be destroyed. Names and addresses collected on the Census will be destroyed at the end of Census processing.

The purpose of the two proposed data integration projects to be undertaken during the 2011 Census processing period to create statistical outputs is outlined in the links provided above.

This section contains the following subsection :

2.1 Indigenous Mortality Project

2.2 Enhancing Australia's Cancer Statistics Project

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