NUMBER OF BEDROOMS
JUSTIFICATION
Housing authorities and others users require data on the number of bedrooms to provide an indication of dwelling size and overcrowding by the calculation of occupancy ratios (i.e. the number of people per room/ bedroom).
The Census is the only comprehensive source of data on number of bedrooms at small area level and for small population groups.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
A question on number of rooms/bedrooms has been included in every Census since 1911.
While the 1986 Census household form asked householders to indicate the numbers of various room types, only the number of bedrooms was entered into the computer record. The 1991 and 1996 Censuses collected data on the number of bedrooms only.
Since the 2001 Census, respondents have been asked to write in the number of bedrooms in their dwellings rather than mark a response category.
USER REQUIREMENTS
Small area data on occupancy ratios are required as a broad measure of housing standards when assessing the nature and utilisation of the Australian housing stock.
Data on the number of bedrooms is required to provide an indication of:
- dwelling size
- overcrowding.
The number of bedrooms is one of several variables used to calculate weights for the rent and mortgage component of the consumer price index.
AVAILABILITY OF NON-CENSUS DATA
Data on the number of bedrooms are available from the Survey of Income and Housing 2005-06, results released in: Housing Occupancy and Costs, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 4130.0.55.001), which is expected to be released in October 2007.
Because of small sample sizes, surveys cannot produce small area data.
2006 CENSUS QUESTION
(Household form only)
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