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Statistical News
Developments In ABS Statistics

Pizza, pasta and pop music: A snapshot of Australian Students

Pizza and pasta are the favourite take-away choice for Australian students who completed the Australian Bureau of Statistics CensusAtSchool for 2010.

Over 22,000 students from Years four to 12 voluntarily submitted their data this year, with the aim to spark students’ interest in statistics and to improve their statistical literacy. Results are designed for education purposes only.

Interesting results from the 2010 CensusAtSchool data include:
Students in years 5 - 12 spend more hours per week hanging out with friends than using the computer/Internet.
The number of students with access to the Internet via broadband connection, has increased in all states and territories.
Forty percent of girls listen to pop as their favourite music while rap is the most popular choice for boys with 21%

Students and teachers can access the data from the online Random Sampler to make comparisons between students like themselves and students in different year levels and parts of Australia.

For further information on the CensusAtSchool project including data for 2010, please visit the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au/censusatschool.

Where will you be on 9 August 2011?

The Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS') Census of Population and Housing will answer this question by counting the nation on 9 August 2011.

With under one year to go until the upcoming Census, planning is well underway for the largest peace time logistical exercise in Australia.

The Census aims to accurately measure the number of people in Australia on Census night wherever they are, from Australia’s research hubs in Antarctica to remote Indigenous communities in northern Australia.
Next year’s Census also marks 100 years of Census taking in Australia, and it remains the most comprehensive way of providing a snapshot of Australia, our key characteristics and where we live.

The Census helps define who we are and what your community looks like now and into the future. Census data supports planning, decision-making and funding at all levels of government, and is behind the services and facilities you use in your area every day.

The first results from the 2011 Census will be made public in June 2012.


Aussies short-term trips overseas - highest on record

Australian residents made a record 6.8 million short-term trips overseas in 2009-10. This is up from 5.8 million movements in 2008-09, and more than double the movements ten years ago.

The most popular destination for Australian residents going overseas on short-term trips (i.e. less than 1 year) was New Zealand, with over 1 million movements across the Tasman occurring in the last financial year.

The next most popular destinations were Indonesia (650,000 movements), the USA (630,000), the UK (460,000) and Thailand (430,000).

During the 2009–10 period, Australian residents on short-term trips stated their average time overseas was 15 days.

Further information can be found in Overseas Arrivals and Departures, June 2010 (cat. no. 3401.0) available for free from the ABS web site www.abs.gov.au.