1338.1 - NSW State and Regional Indicators, Sep 2010
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/10/2010
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NSW STATE STATISTICAL PLAN SIGNED The NSW Government's Directors General Executive Committee endorsed the development of a NSW State Statistical Plan (SSP) on 30 August 2010. This plan will be the first of its kind in Australia and is intended to:
The SSP comprises two main components - a formal governance structure to identify, manage and escalate statistical issues; and a series of projects designed to address issues identified as statistical priorities for NSW Government. Individual NSW departments are currently developing their own statistical plans, which will be aggregated and collated into a whole of NSW Government Statistical Plan in early 2011 by ABS NSW and the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. We expect the final report will be presented to the NSW Statistical Senior Officer Group in mid 2011, following the state election. The ABS is seen as a key partner in this endeavour, and has been - and will continue to be - actively involved in the development, implementation and management of the SSP. For more information contact Cathy Bates on cathy.bates@abs.gov.au or 0409 790 574. PROPOSED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES FROM THE 2011 CENSUS: INFORMATION PAPER AND CONSULTATION SESSIONS The Census of Population and Housing provides a wealth of information about Australia's population and the dwellings in which we live. The next Census is scheduled for 9 August 2011 and planning is well underway for the output program. The ABS is committed to releasing the results of the Census through a wide range of products and services designed to make it easy for you to access the data you need. The first results from the 2011 Census will be released in June 2012. The release of Information Paper: Census of Population and Housing -- Proposed Products and Services, 2011 (cat. no. 2011.0) marks the start of a wide consultation program. The paper discusses what will be changing including:
We encourage you to read through the proposals in this paper and visit ABS Betaworks for a glimpse of what the products might look like. While you are there, please complete the short on-line survey and give us feedback. Your input will ensure that we continue to develop our output products so they meet your data needs. Three user information and consultation sessions for NSW will be run in late October (two in Sydney and one in Newcastle). The information sessions will also provide an opportunity for you to learn more about the new geography to be used for the 2011 Census. We believe this will be of particular interest to users, and would like to hear from you first hand. The format of the sessions will be a 1 hour presentation outlining our plans for the 2011 Census output program, followed by a 1 hour Question and Answer discussion. The sessions times are:
To RSVP or for further information, please contact Alex Reuter Town, phone (02) 9268 4064, email nsw.statistics@abs.gov.au. BEYOND THE COUNT - CENSUS CONFERENCE In the lead up to the 2011 Census, there will be an exciting showcase event to promote the effective and innovative use of Census data by government, community and private sector organisations. Census - beyond the count is a showcase event that will explore the issues that matter to all Australians and how Census data makes a difference. The target audience of the conference includes all levels of government, demographers and social advocates, small business, community leaders and policy 'influencers'. These people are broadly representative of Census data users and are people whose support will help promote and influence the outcomes of the 2011 Census. Speakers and presenters will be from a broad range of state, regional and local government bodies, charitable organisations and private institutions. The conference will be held at the Hilton on the Park - Melbourne from 2 March to 4 March 2011. We are now calling for speakers to present at this exciting event! The program will feature a variety of presentation formats, including plenary presentations, panel discussions, concurrent sessions and workshops. If you would like to join us or know of others who have a Census story to tell, we would like to hear from you. The Census | beyond the count website is now live. Visit www.abs.gov.au/beyondthecount to find out more. We also encourage you to follow us on twitter @beyondthecount. NATSTATS 2010 CONFERENCE WRAP-UP The NatStats 2010 Conference was held from 15-17 September 2010, at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Darling Harbour. The conference was very successful and attracted over 460 delegates, 54 presenters and 14 exhibitors from both users and providers of data from government, business, the media, academia and the wider community. The overall theme for NatStats 2010 — Measuring what counts: economic development, well-being and progress in 21st century Australia — explored drivers of economic and related social change that are shaping Australia's future development. One of the key outcomes of the Conference was the production of a set of Recommendations — broad, strategic objectives that will assist in setting the direction for a future statistical system that is relevant and responsive to future challenges in Australia. The draft NatStats 2010 recommendations, which reflected ideas and issues that were raised in speaker presentations and discussions held throughout the conference, were presented to conference delegates by Mr Geoff Allen from the Australian Statistical Advisory Council. The final recommendations will be formally released on 20 October 2010 as part of the celebrations for World Statistics Day. Please visit the NatStats website to view photos and the draft Recommendations. COMMUNITY INDICATORS SEMINAR The 2010 release of the ABS publication Measures of Australia’s Progress (MAP) and the NatStats 2010 Conference provided a great opportunity for community indicator practitioners from around the country to join a dynamic seminar to learn about local and international developments in community and national indicators. Sue Taylor, Director of the Social and Progress Reporting Team with responsibility for Measures of Australia's Progress (MAP), Australian Social Trends and the Analytical Projects team within the ABS, provided an overview of the key information and suite of indicators presented in the 4th edition of MAP as well as the new look MAP website. The development of national indicators was also discussed during a presentation by Mike Salvaris, Adjunct Professor, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). Professor Salvaris spoke about the Australian National Development Index (ANDI) and the importance of bringing together community indicator practitioners to have input on the meaning of progress and how it will be measured. The ANDI is intended to develop new measures of equitable and sustainable wellbeing based on environmental, social, economic, cultural and democratic dimensions of progress. Click here to read a short brief on the ANDI proposal and the full background paper . Participants were also very interested to hear from the American Government Accountability Office (GAO) on recent developments in their National and Regional Indicators. Bernice Steinhardt and Judith Kordahl from the Strategic Issues Team, Washington, provided an overview of the GAO system. The afternoon also provided a good opportunity for the community indicator practitioners to share their learning. Overall, participants enjoyed the discussion and found the sessions relevant and informative. It was also a great lead up to the NatStats 2010 Conference. Presentations from the seminar will be available on the NSS website shortly. If you would like more information on the ABS' MAP or other community indicator forums and networks, please email inquiries@nss.gov.au. UPCOMING STATISTICAL TRAINING AT ABS NSW The ABS NSW office will be hosting the following training courses in October and November:
In addition to standard training courses, ABS can develop tailored training courses on demand for groups of interested participants, either at our Training Rooms or on-site. Further information about our courses and schedule can be found on our website under ABS Training. To book into an upcoming training course or to enquire about customising a statistical training course for your organisation contact our External Training Coordinator on (02) 9268 4327 or email nsw.statistics@abs.gov.au. INTRODUCING THE BUREAU OF TRANSPORT STATISTICS The Bureau of Transport Statistics (BTS) was established in July 2010 to be the premiere independent source of transport related statistics in NSW. The BTS aims to provide representative, up-to-date Transport related information and data to support informed decision making in the development of NSW Transport policy, planning, infrastructure and service delivery. The principle of data sharing and collaboration amongst the key transport agencies in NSW will underpin this initiative toward achieving accessible, high quality and independently assessed NSW transport statistics on usage, reliability and related performance measures. The existing Transport Date Centre (TDC) website is being re-developed into a new portal where members of the community, policy makers and analysts can access centralised information from across the transport network, including data on rail, bus and ferry patronage. Forecast data on population, employment and freight will also be available. A key highlight of the new website is the Visualise Data section, which allows users to interactively plot key travel data items. Users will be able to view cross sectional or time series data in table, graph and geospatial formats. The website will also host a facility for searching both all new BTS publications and existing TDC publications (including the frequently requested Household travel survey (HTS) and Journey to Work (JTW) publications). The re-developed website is currently in the final stages of testing and stakeholder feedback, but will be ready to go live in the coming months. Below is a small snapshot of what you can expect from the new site. RELEASE OF THE LATEST SMALL AREA POPULATION ESTIMATES BY AGE AND SEX The recent release of Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia (cat. no. 3235.0) showed that:
The product contains estimates of the resident population by age (in five-year age groups up to 85 and over) and sex as at 30 June 2004 and 30 June 2009 with estimates provided for Local Government Areas (LGAs), Statistical Local Areas (SLAs), Statistical Divisions (SDs), Statistical Subdivisions (SSDs) and states and territories of Australia, according to the 2009 edition of the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). IS LIFE IN AUSTRALIA GETTING BETTER? MEASURES OF AUSTRALIA'S PROGRESS Measures of Australia's Progress (MAP), 2010 tries to answer the question: 'Is life in Australia getting better?'. MAP presents a set of indicators that measure key aspects of progress in Australia. While it does not claim to measure every possible aspect of progress, it does provide a national summary of many of the most important areas of progress. MAP also looks at whether all Australians are sharing in progress. MAP is designed to inform and stimulate public debate and encourage all Australians to assess a broader view of progress. The latest results show:
For more details see Measures of Australia's Progress, 2010 (cat. no. 1370.0). AUSTRALIAN SOCIAL TRENDS The ABS released the latest edition of Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) on 29 September 2010. The publication draws together a wide range of statistics from the ABS and other official sources to provide a picture of Australian society and how it is changing over time. The latest edition features six articles:
Further information is available in the September edition of Australian Social Trends, 2010 (cat. no. 4102.0). MENTAL HEALTH OF YOUNG PEOPLE Mental Health of Young People, 2007 (cat. no. 4840.0.55.001) provides a brief overview of the mental health of young people aged 16-24 years in Australia using data sourced from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (SMHWB). Mental health is defined as 'a state of wellbeing in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community'. Mental illness describes 'a number of diagnosable disorders that significantly interfere with an individual's cognitive, emotional or social abilities'. Adolescence and young adulthood is a critical stage of transition, in physical and mental development. Vulnerability to mental illness is heightened at this time of major life change and over three-quarters (76%) of people who experience mental disorder during their lifetime will first develop a disorder before the age of 25 years. Mental disorders in young people can seriously disrupt their growth and development, eroding quality of life by affecting their self-confidence and independence, and social and family relationships, as well as their education and employment. The article covers data sources and definitions; the prevalence of mental disorders; health risks and social characteristics; socio-economic characteristics; co-morbidity and severity of conditions; and mental health service use. AN OVERVIEW OF DIABETES IN AUSTRALIA Diabetes is an important health issue in Australia. On the 28th of October 2010, the ABS will release Diabetes in Australia: An Overview, 2007-08 (cat. no. 4820.0.55.001). Using data from the 2007-08 National Health Survey the publication will give a brief overview of the differentials in prevalence, risk factors, actions taken after diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, and resultant conditions from diabetes mellitus. THE HEALTH AND WELFARE OF AUSTRALIA'S ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Oct 2010 (cat. no. 4704.0), to be released on 29 October, provides a comprehensive statistical overview, largely at the national level, of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and welfare. Focussing on topics considered important for the health of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population this release presents the latest analysis and results from key national statistical collections including: the 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey; the 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey; and the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. Following on from the previous biennial series of printed reports, this electronic release aims to present comprehensive analysis on a more frequent basis. This is the second release for 2010 and includes new analysis on Social and Emotional Wellbeing, Housing, Disability and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. NATIONAL PATIENT EXPERIENCES SURVEY: FIRST RELEASE The ABS has released the results of the first national Patient Experience Survey which examined health care for Australians in the previous 12 months. This survey covered the following topics:
For more details see Health Services: Patient experiences in Australia, 2009 (cat. no. 4839.0.55.001). AN ANALYSIS OF REPEAT IMPRISONMENT TRENDS Reducing the number of prisoners who are repeatedly imprisoned is one of the goals of any correctional system. However, while a period of imprisonment may deter some people from re-offending, in others it may foster further criminal behaviour. The ABS recently releases a research paper An Analysis of Repeat Imprisonment Trends in Australia using Prisoner Census Data from 1994 to 2007, Aug 2010 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.031) presenting the results of a study based on a longitudinal dataset constructed from 14 successive Prisoner Censuses between 1994 and 2007. The study follows, over time, two cohorts of people who were 'released' from prison (where 'release' is a proxy measure derived from the absence of a prisoner's record in a subsequent Prisoner Census). This paper expands on an earlier study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics by using logistic regression models to examine the factors associated with repeat imprisonment and assess whether or not the propensity for re-imprisonment has increased over time. This paper also examines trends in criminal career development using descriptive methods, looking at patterns of specialisation, and of movements from one type of offence to another. The study found that re-imprisonment was strongly associated with being young, being Indigenous, or having been previously imprisoned (that is, being a prisoner who had already served time in prison). In all jurisdictions except Queensland, the rate of re-imprisonment in recent years was higher than in the mid-1990s. MEASURING ECONOMIC RETURNS FROM POST-SCHOOL EDUCATION In recent years there has been renewed interest in estimating the economic returns from education and post-school education plays a critical role in the growth of the human capital stock. The ABS recently released a research paper titled Measuring Economic Returns to Post-School Education in Australia, Aug 2010 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.032) which presents estimates of the economic returns from post-school education, with a focus on the rates of return from investment in university bachelor degrees. This study makes an important contribution to this research by providing estimates of returns from education spanning 25 years, using data from the six Population Censuses held from 1981 to 2006. The study found that the expected private rates of return from investment in bachelor degrees increased over time for males, from 13.1 percent in 1981 to 19.6 percent in 2001, and then dropped to 15.3 percent in 2006; for females the rate of return ranged from 18.0 percent to 17.3 percent over the same period. EXPERIMENTAL ESTIMATES OF THE GROSS VALUE OF IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION The Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (GVIAP) refers to the gross value of agricultural commodities that are produced with the assistance of irrigation. Estimates of the Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (GVIAP) have been a core component of the ABS Water Account (cat. no. 4610.0), the next release of which is due at the end of 2010. Growing demand for information from policy-makers and other users has led to the ABS to producing more accurate and frequent estimates of GVIAP at a sub-state geographic level using an improved methodology (described in the information paper Methods of estimating the Gross Value of Irrigated Agricultural Production (cat. no. 4610.0.55.006). The experimental estimates released in July are the first using the improved method. The release also builds on the time series available with the addition of 2007-08 data for Australia, States and Territories and the Murray-Darling Basin, as well as Natural Resource Management (NRM) region level data for 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. The ABS plans to release GVIAP estimates on an annual basis. It is anticipated that future issues of the product will include additional information including chain volume measures at the national level and some further regional breakdown. ABS welcomes comments on these experimental estimates. Please contact Steven May on 02 6252 5593 or email steven.may@abs.gov.au. LABOUR MOBILITY IN AUSTRALIA The ABS recently released the latest in the biennial series Labour Mobility, Australia (cat. no. 6209.0). This publication presents information about people aged 15 years and over who, within the 12 months to February 2010, either had a change of employer/business in their main job, or had some change in work (such as promotion, transfer, changes in occupation and usual hours worked) with their current employer/business, for whom they had worked for one year or more. The latest results show that of the 10.9 million Australian people who were working at February 2010, 2 million (18%) had been with their current employer/business for less than 12 months. There were 2.2 million people who ceased a job during the year ending February 2010. Of those, 58% voluntarily left their job. The most common reason for involuntary job loss was 'Retrenched by their employer or went out of business' (50%). SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES Selected Characteristics of Australian Business, 2008-09 (cat. no. 8167.0), which is the third release from the 2008-09 Business Characteristics Survey, covers topics such as business ownership, collaborative arrangements, franchising agreements, performance measures, barriers to activities of performance, government financial assistance, finance sought, innovation, business use of information technology, skills, markets and competition. Associated with this release are a detailed set of datacubes that include data for these topics, cross classified (where possible) by innovator status; business size (based on employment) and industry. Data included are additional to those outputs from the BCS released previously in Summary of IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business 2008-09 (cat. no. 8166.0) and Innovation in Australian Business 2008-09 (cat. no. 8158.0). DEFINING ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER-OWNED BUSINESSES The ABS has released a Discussion Paper: Defining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-owned Businesses, June 2010 (cat. no. 4731.0). Based on stakeholder consultations, the ABS' proposed definition aims to:
The definition assumes and accepts Indigenous self-identification for both individuals and businesses. The paper discusses the key components of the definition, and the implications in terms of inclusions and exclusions. It also highlights some alternative bases for definitions. This discussion paper is designed to be a basis for further stakeholder consultation. It should therefore be considered as the beginning of a conversation rather than the conclusion. Interested parties are invited to comment on all aspects of the draft definition, including, but not limited to the:
Furthermore, looking forward to data collection, we're seeking feedback on the underlying data needs in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned businesses. Feedback on the paper will be welcome until 3 January 2011. Please mail submissions to: National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics GPO Box 3796 Darwin NT 0801 or email NCATSIS_WDB@abs.gov.au Following the release of this discussion paper, the ABS plans to hold a workshop with interested parties in Canberra to discuss the draft definition. This workshop will be held in early 2011. If you're interested in the workshop, please contact freecall: 1800 633 216. THE DIRECTORY OF NATIONAL DATA ITEMS AND QUESTIONS FOR THE EVALUATION OF HOUSEHOLD PREPAREDNESS FOR FIRE AND NATURAL DISASTER EMERGENCIES Currently there is little information available to emergency managers and policy makers on how prepared communities are in the case of a fire or natural disaster emergency. Furthermore, current measurement questionnaires and tools are not applied consistently across Australia, and are primarily focused on structural fires rather than other hazard types. The Directory of National Data Items and Questions for Evaluation of Household Preparedness for Fire and Natural Disaster Emergencies was prepared by the ABS in conjunction with relevant agencies to assist Emergency management organisations to survey households and therefore better understand Australia's household preparedness for fire and natural disaster emergencies. The Directory will provide the means by which agencies can collect up-to date, comprehensive and coherent information on household preparedness. These surveys will therefore become the vehicle to collect information for assessing household preparedness for fire and natural disaster emergencies with a view to improving community safety. The Directory is intended for use by those organisations that plan to collect data relating to emergency management. It is designed as a set of data items and questions modules which can then be selected and potentially be put together as a questionnaire. Further information about the Directory and its use can be accessed via the NSS website. NEW DATA VISUALISATION TOOLS ON THE ABS WEBSITE The Australian Bureau of Statistics has been busy generating a number of interactive tools to help visually display the data it produces. A variety of animated graphs and calculators have been created to bring numbers to life. For example you can:
ABS Betaworks also features a number of proposed data visualisation projects and the opportunity to post your comments. ABS INTRODUCES CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSING The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) supplies the bulk of its free and customised data with Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licensing. This is a less restricted version of copyright with only 'some rights reserved'. In effect, the ABS is asking only that it be acknowledged as the source of the data. Australia is one of over 50 countries world wide who have taken up the Creative Commons project. The use of Creative Commons licensing by the ABS puts it among the vanguard of government agencies embracing open licensing of public sector information. With Creative Commons licensing people are free to re-use, build upon and distribute such data, even commercially. This makes a wealth of data more readily available to governments, the community, researchers and businesses, facilitating innovative research and development projects based on quality statistics, and promoting the wider use of statistics in the community, which is one of our core objectives. Please see ABS Copyright on this website for further information regarding coverage of these licences. Note that Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs) do not carry this licence. If you have any questions about Creative Commons or ABS licensing generally, please email intermediary.management@abs.gov.au. OTHER ABS NEWSLETTERS To complement the region specific newsletters produced by each State and Territory ABS office, the ABS has a range of subject specific newsletters to which you can subscribe. A selection that may be of interest include:
The full selection of ABS newsletters arranged by catalogue number can be accessed here. ABS EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE AND RSS FEEDS If you are interested in any of the upcoming releases mentioned in this newsletter, you may want to be notified on the day of release. The ABS Email Notification Service enables you to register your interest to receive email alerts on updates to a particular topic of your choice. This service is free and allows you to keep up to date with the latest ABS information without having to regularly check the ABS website. You can subscribe to four broad categories of notifications (All statistical products, Main economic indicators, Media releases or CURF Microdata) or to particular topics/sub-topics of the ABS catalogue. For more information see the Email Subscription Service Frequently Asked Questions. Alternatively ABS has two RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds you can subscribe to: ABS Product Releases and ABS National Statistical Headlines. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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