2007.0 - Information Paper: Census of Population and Housing: ABS Views on Content and Procedures, 2011

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/10/2007

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Contents >> Topics to be Included in the 2011 Census >> Industry

INDUSTRY

JUSTIFICATION

Data on the geographic distribution of industry are needed to monitor changes and provide a basis for social and economic policy and planning. The Census is the only source of industry data at the detailed level for most industries and for small areas, and enables cross-classification with other employee characteristics (such as qualifications or occupation).

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

A question on the industry of a person’s employment has been included in one form or another in all Censuses. The industry coding for the 2001 Census used the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 1993 (cat. no. 1292.0).

Prior to the 2001 Census, industry was coded from the names and addresses of the workplaces of respondents’ employers or, where no match was obtained, by using the person’s response to a direct industry question. The business name matching used the industry codes of businesses on the Business Register maintained by the ABS. This method provided more consistency of the data with that from other ABS collections based on the register.

For the 2001 Census, a structured coding methodology was introduced and two questions were used in an attempt to elicit better information from respondents to allow for more reliable coding.

There were several changes to the topic for 2006, including:

rewording the industry question to align industry responses more closely with ANZSIC classification principles
dual coding of industry responses, to both 1993 ANZSIC and the revised 2006 Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) (cat. no. 1292.0).

USER REQUIREMENTS

Data on industry are required for:

analysis and monitoring of the rate of structural change at a national and local area level
analysis of the demographic and labour force characteristics of employees in industries and in locations which are facing structural change
identification of areas (geographically and in the labour force) of skill shortage in combination with occupation and qualification data
provision of advice to governments (at all levels), and their agencies responsible for delivering programs and providing services at a regional level.

AVAILABILITY OF NON-CENSUS DATA

A question on industry is included each quarter in the ABS Monthly Labour Force Survey, and data is output at the ANZSIC group level. Unemployed people in this survey are asked each quarter for their previous industry of employment (if their last job was less than 2 years ago). Results from the survey are released in Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0 and associated electronic products 6291.0.55.001 and 6291.0.55.003).

However, detailed survey data are subject to high sampling variability.

Industry of main, second, third and fourth job is also collected in the six-yearly Survey of Employment Arrangements, Retirement and Superannuation (results released in Employment Arrangements and Superannuation, Australia, cat. no. 6361.0).

The ABS undertakes a range of business surveys collecting information on employment.

POSSIBLE CHANGES FOR 2011

For the 2011 Census, question wording will be reviewed to ensure its compatibility with the 2006 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) (cat. no. 1292.0)

2006 CENSUS QUESTIONS