QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
RELEVANCE
TIMELINESS
ACCURACY
COHERENCE
INTERPRETABILITY
ACCESSIBILITY


INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID), 2011 is released in TableBuilder. TableBuilder files are released in accordance with the conditions specified in the Statistics Determination section of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. This ensures that confidentiality is maintained whilst enabling micro level data to be released. More information on the confidentiality practices associated with TableBuilder can be found on the Confidentiality page.

For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

RELEVANCE

The ACMID, 2011 contains information on persons who responded to the 9 August 2011 Census of Population and Housing AND persons who had a permanent visa record on the Department of Immigration and Border Protection's (DIBP) Settlement Database (SDB) with a date of arrival between 1 January 2000 and 9 August 2011 (inclusive). Persons excluded from the ACMID, 2011 are:

• Persons for whom the 2011 Census record was imputed
• Persons whose Census record indicated that they were an overseas visitor
• Persons who were out of the country on Census night
• Non-visa settlers (e.g. some New Zealand citizens who have migrated to Australia)
• Deceased persons
• Permanent migrants from the Permanent - Other visa stream.

The SDB date of arrival on which the scope is based reflects an individual's latest arrival pertaining to their latest permanent visa. For an offshore applicant, the SDB arrival date is when the applicant arrives in Australia on that permanent visa. However, for a person who applies onshore for a permanent visa, the date of arrival listed on the SDB is the date of their last entry into Australia.
TIMELINESS

The Census of Population and Housing is conducted every five years. For further information see the publication How Australia Takes a Census, 2011. The ACMID, 2011 marks the first release of an integrated dataset that has linked 100% of the Census to an administrative dataset. It is expected that the two datasets will again be linked after the 2016 Census.
ACCURACY

The ACMID, 2011 contains individual person level data. For more information on the level of detail provided in the TableBuilder, please see the Downloads tab. The TableBuilder product has in-built procedures to confidentialise the data in such a way as to maximise the usefulness of the content while maintaining the confidentiality of respondents. As a result, it may not be possible to exactly reconcile all the statistics produced from the TableBuilder with published statistics. Further information about the steps taken to confidentialise the microdata is available through the following link: TableBuilder Confidentiality. Further information about the data and the linking methodology used is available in the Research Paper: Assessing the Quality of Linking Migrant Settlement Records to 2011 Census Data, Aug 2013 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.043).

COHERENCE

Estimates from the ACMID, 2011 will differ from the estimates produced from other ABS collections and estimates produced from the SDB for several reasons. The estimates are a result of integrating data from two data sources, one an administrative dataset and the other a census. The linked records have been calibrated to known population totals from the SDB, and the resulting dataset is unique from both the Census and the SDB. Due to the quality issues previously mentioned, estimates should generally be treated with caution. For further information see Linking Methodology.

INTERPRETABILITY

The information within this product should be referred to when using the microdata. It contains information including Linking Methodology, File Structure, Using the Dataset in TableBuilder, Conditions of Use and the Data Items.

The Research Paper: Assessing the Quality of Linking Migrant Settlement Records to 2011 Census Data, Aug 2013 (cat. no. 1351.0.55.043) includes information on linking objectives, linking methods, data quality and interpretation.

ACCESSIBILITY

The ACMID, 2011 can be accessed using TableBuilder.

Microdata products are available to approved users. Users wishing to access the microdata should read the How to apply for Microdata web page, before applying for access through Registration Centre. Users should also familiarise themselves with information available via the Microdata web pages.

A full list of available microdata can be viewed via the List of expected and available Microdata.

Any questions regarding access to microdata can be forwarded to microdata.access@abs.gov.au or phone (02) 6252 7714.