Income and Housing Costs
CONTACT
Assistant Director
Household Income & Expenditure Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Telephone (02) 6252 5838
Facsimile (02) 6252 6870
DESCRIPTION
The survey is a continuous monthly survey which provides information on sources of income, amounts received, selected housing costs and characteristics of people. Income is collected on both a current and financial year basis. Data are available for standard demographic characteristics.
Income and housing costs data are used to evaluate whether government payments and allowances have been received by the appropriate target groups.
SCOPE
Persons in scope of the Labour Force Survey. Excludes persons in non-private dwellings. Since 1997, excludes persons living in some remote and sparsely settled parts of Australia.
DISSEMINATION
Publications
Income Distribution, Australia (cat. no. 6523.0)
Survey of Income and Housing Costs, Australia: User Guide (cat. no. 6553.0)
Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia (cat. no. 4130.0).
Data Service
Customised unpublished data are available in a variety of formats.
Income and Housing Costs Survey, Australia: Confidentialised Unit Record File on CD-ROM (cat. no. 6541.0.30.00)
Income and Housing Costs Survey, Australia: Confidentialised Unit Record File on Floppy Disk (cat. no. 6541.0.15.001).
Data Details
Data are primarily available at income unit level. Extensive data are also available at person level and some data at household level.
Standard family, demographic and labour force information as for the Labour Force Survey.
Additional demographic and family information
Position in family/income unit
Income unit type
Month of arrival in Australia (if in last two years)
Housing
Dwelling structure
Number of bedrooms
Tenure type
Landlord type
Current housing costs
Main purpose of mortgages and loans
Mortgage outstanding amount
Value of dwelling
Age of dwelling
Whether new or established home for recent buyers
Whether first home for recent buyers
Rates (combined water/sewerage and general)
Income
Amount from each source for current and for previous financial year
Sources
Other selected topics
Hours worked in first and second jobs
Occupation
Industry
Age left school (persons aged 15-20)
Highest post-school qualification
Current study status
Amount of child maintenance paid
GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE
Australia, States and Territories, capital city/balance of State.
FREQUENCY OF COLLECTION
From July 1994, the survey has been conducted on a continuous basis, collecting detailed information about income and housing costs each month. It was not conducted in 1998-99 but recommenced in July 1999. The Survey of Income and Housing Costs has been reviewed and it is intended that from July 2002-03 it will be conducted 3 yearly.
METHOD OF COLLECTION
Monthly Population Survey. One sixth of the last rotation group in the Monthly Population Survey are asked income questions.
HISTORICAL DATA
The continuous Survey of Income and Housing Costs was first conducted in 1994-95 and replaced periodic income surveys which were conducted at four-year intervals between 1979 and 1990. These surveys were generally conducted over a two-month period. Other differences between the current survey and earlier income surveys include improvements to the survey weighting and estimation procedures, changes to the population in scope and to interviewing methods.
Print Page
Print All