EXPLANATORY NOTES

1 This publication contains results from the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) conducted throughout Australia between August 2012 and March 2013.

2 The SDAC measures the prevalence of disability and the need for support by older people and those with a disability, and provides a demographic and socio-economic profile of people with disability, older people and carers compared with the general population. This publication presents key disability and carer indicators relating to labour force participation, satisfaction with services, social and community participation and the wellbeing of carers.

POPULATION GROUPS

3 Data in tables 1-3 are presented for people with disability aged 15-64 years, unless otherwise stated.

4 Data in tables 4-6 are presented for two groups of carers – ‘primary carers’ and ‘all carers’ (primary and non-primary carers combined) – with a third population group (‘non-carers’) included for comparison purposes (for definitions of carers and primary carers see glossary link below):

• The scope of primary carers for these tables are primary carers with a main recipient of care aged:
  • 0-64 years, or
  • 65 years and over where the carer is also caring for a non-main recipient aged 0-64 years who has a profound or severe core activity limitation, and who lives with the carer.
• The scope of 'all carers' for these tables are primary carers as specified above and non-primary carers of co-resident recipients of care aged 0-64 years. As these data pertain to carers of recipients aged 0-64 years, carers (including primary carers) who only provide care to persons aged 65 years and over have been excluded.
• Non-carers consist of people not identified in the SDAC as providing a caring role to people of any age.
  

CONFIDENTIALITY

5 To minimise the risk of identifying individuals in aggregate statistics, a technique is used to randomly adjust cell values. This technique is called perturbation. Perturbation involves small random adjustment of the statistics and is considered the most satisfactory technique for avoiding the release of identifiable statistics while maximising the range of information that can be released. These adjustments have a negligible impact on the underlying pattern of the statistics.

After perturbation, a given published cell value will be consistent across all tables. However, adding up cell values to derive a total will not necessarily give the same result as published totals.

The introduction of perturbation in publications ensures that these statistics are consistent with statistics released via services such as Table Builder.


RELIABILITY OF ESTIMATES

6 All sample surveys are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. For more information relating to the Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, please refer to the publication Disability, Ageing and Carers, Summary of Findings (cat. no. 4430.0). The Relative Standard Error (RSE) for each estimate and proportion has been provided in this publication. Where an estimate or proportion has a RSE between 25% and 50%, the estimate or proportion is annotated to indicate that it is subject to a high RSE and should be used with caution. Where an estimate or proportion has a RSE above 50%, the estimate or proportion is annotated to indicate that it is not reliable for general use, and the RSE is not published.

In addition, in a very small number of instances, an estimate is provided but the proportion has not been published, due to the impact of perturbation.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

7 The publication Disability, Ageing and Carers, Summary of Findings (cat. no. 4430.0)contains information about the SDAC, including:

Explanatory Notes
Includes: Scope and Coverage; Data Collection; Estimation Method; Reliability of the Estimates; Data Comparability; Classifications; Products and Services

Glossary

Abbreviations

Limitations and Restrictions (Appendix)

Disability Groups (Appendix)

Quality Declarations - Summary
Includes: Institutional Environment; Timeliness; Accuracy; Coherence; Interpretability; Accessibility

Data Quality (Tehcnical Note)
Includes: Reliability of the Estimates; Calculation of Standard Error; Proportion and Percentages; Differences; Significance Testing; Other Sources of Error


RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES WITH RESPECT TO "NOT-STATED" RESPONSES FOR SELF-ENUMERATED DATA ITEMS RELATED TO CARING

8 In the 2012 SDAC some of the data items relating to caring which were self-enumerated by primary carers had moderately high levels of not stated responses (approximately 25% of the estimated population of primary carers). This introduces the potential for non-response bias if those who did respond were inherently different to the total population of primary carers. However, analysis showed there were no substantial differences between primary carers who responded and all primary carers on the following characteristics: sex, age, labour force status, remoteness, country of birth, income, marital status, relationship with the recipient of care, duration of care provision and hours of care provided weekly.

9 The tables below show the weighted estimates of the proportion of primary carers who did not respond to particular data items on the self-enumeration form which can be used when interpreting tables 5-6 which are impacted by this type of non response.

TABLE 1. PROPORTION OF PRIMARY CARERS WITH "NOT STATED" RESPONSES, By State and Territory, 2012
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	SA	WA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
PROPORTIONS (%)
Proportion of primary carers who did not state their feelings of satisfaction or negative impacts on their wellbeing due to their caring role
Male	30.3	18.0	32.2	27.9	15.8	30.7	31.6	47.0	25.4
Female	26.7	20.0	27.1	20.5	31.4	10.4	29.9	13.0	24.9
Major cities	27.2	24.0	27.6	30.5	28.9	na	na	31.0	26.6
Other	27.7	7.7	34.3	6.6	35.3	20.5	39.3	na	21.3
Total	27.2	18.2	30.5	26.2	27.1	20.5	39.3	31.0	25.2
Proportion of primary carers who did not state their satisfaction with the range of services
Male	30.8	17.9	32.2	34.5	15.8	30.7	31.6	47	26
Female	28.5	20.3	29.1	27	34.9	16.2	29.9	13	25.9
Major cities	27.5	27.2	27.7	35.2	28.9	na	na	31	27.2
Other	27.9	10	36.9	8.7	38.7	20.4	39.3	na	23
Total	28.2	18.8	32.4	26.9	31.5	20.4	39.3	31	25.8
Proportion of primary carers who did not state reception or quality of formal services
Male	30.8	17.9	32.2	25.9	15.8	30.7	31.6	42.5	25.8
Female	25.7	20.7	30.4	20.5	34.9	18.6	29.9	13	25.2
Major cities	25.4	26	27.7	30.5	28.9	na	na	21.3	26.5
Other	29	10	39.6	15.1	38.7	20	39.3	na	21.8
Total	25.9	18.7	31.5	24.9	31.5	20	39.3	21.3	25.3

TABLE 2. PROPORTION OF PRIMARY CARERS WITH "NOT STATED" RESPONSES, 2012
PROPORTIONS (%)
Proportion of primary carers who did not state their feelings of satisfaction or negative impacts on their wellbeing due to their caring role
15–44 years	26.3
45–64 years	23.7
65 years or over	23.6
Subtotal 15–64 years	25.4
Australia	23.6
Other English speaking countries	18.6
All English speaking countries	23.4
Non-English speaking countries	35.2
Total	25.2
Proportion of primary carers who did not state their satisfaction with the range of services
15–44 years	27.8
45–64 years	24.6
65 years or over	24.7
Subtotal 15–64 years	25.9
Australia	24.7
Other English speaking countries	21.7
All English speaking countries	24
Non-English speaking countries	33.8
Total	25.8
Proportion of primary carers who did not state reception or quality of formal services
15–44 years	26.1
45–64 years	24
65 years or over	24.7
Subtotal 15–64 years	25
Australia	23.9
Other English speaking countries	18.6
All English speaking countries	23.2
Non-English speaking countries	32.9
Total	25.3