SCOPE
The scope of the Census is every person present in Australia on Census night (with the exception of foreign diplomats and their families). Ideally the PES would sample from all people who were or should have been in the scope of the Census, but for practical reasons there are a number of areas, dwellings and people excluded or not able to be covered by the PES. Of the people present in Australia at the time of the PES, the following are not included:
- foreign diplomats and their families;
- people in non-private dwellings (NPDs) such as hotels, motels, hospitals and other institutions;
- homeless people (as the sample selected in the PES is based on the selection of dwellings);
- overseas visitors who were not in Australia on 9 August 2011 (Census night);
- babies born after 9 August 2011; and
- people in Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Christmas Island, Australian Antarctic Territory and Jervis Bay Territory.
The PES does not obtain information about people who died between Census and the PES, however it does obtain information about Australian residents who are overseas during the PES enumeration period and who departed after the Census, provided that they usually live with people remaining in Australia.
Remote areas and discrete Indigenous communities
Remote areas and discrete Indigenous communities were first included in the scope of the PES in 2006. Prior to this, they were excluded from the PES because of operational issues associated with enumerating them. In addition, it was considered difficult in the past to implement procedures to ensure that independence of the PES from the Census was not compromised by using the same local contacts for both Census and PES.
In 2006, the risk to statistical independence was effectively managed through interviewer training and the procedures put in place for field staff. As a result, enumeration of discrete Indigenous communities will again occur in 2011, between the end of August and early October 2011.
Non-private dwellings
Non-private dwellings are establishments which provide predominantly short-term accommodation for communal or group living, and often provide common eating facilities. They include hotels, motels, hostels, hospitals, religious institutions providing accommodation, educational institutions providing accommodation, prisons, boarding houses and short-stay caravan parks. Non-private dwellings each comprise a number of dwelling units. About 2% of the Australian population live in non-private dwellings.Non-private dwellings have previously been excluded from the PES because:
- a high number of these dwelling units are found to be vacant;
- many of the people who are contacted in these dwelling units are not in scope of the PES, or they usually live in a private dwelling and the PES coverage rules give them a chance of selection at their usual residence;
- the quality of information is often poor, especially in institutions, where information cannot be provided by individuals themselves and so is collected from administrative lists or from staff;
- enumeration suffers from a lack of independence from the Census, because the administrative lists used by interviewers to collect data about institutionalised people are the same as those used by Census staff; and
- the cost of enumerating them is relatively high compared to private dwellings, because of the additional time and effort required.
An investigation was conducted into the possible inclusion of non-private dwellings in the scope of the 2006 PES. The investigation found that non-private dwellings were likely to have high levels of sample loss and non-response, which meant their inclusion in the PES would not be cost-effective. Non-private dwellings were therefore excluded from the scope of the 2006 PES and will also be excluded in 2011. While this is expected to have minimal impact on overall estimates of net undercount, the inclusion of non-private dwellings will be investigated again prior to the 2016 PES.
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