QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs) are released in accordance with the conditions specified in the Statistics Determination section of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (CSA). This ensures that confidentiality is maintained whilst enabling micro level data to be released. More information on the confidentiality practices associated with CURFs can be found at the "How is CURF data confidentialised?" page.

For information on the insititutional 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

Microdata from the Survey of Education and Training (SET) are available as both a Basic and an Expanded CURF. The CURFs contain information about a range of key indicators relating to the educational participation and attainment of all persons aged 15–64 years and all persons aged 65–74 years who were in or marginally attached to the labour force. Demographic and socio-economic characteristics, employment characteristics, and information about access and barriers to education and training are also included.

The level of detail provided for selected data items are:

Data Item	Basic CURF	Expanded CURF
Age	Single years: 15–24; 5 year groups: 25–74	Single years: 15–74
State or Territory of usual residence	NSW; Vic; QLD; SA; WA; Balance of Australia	NSW; Vic; QLD; SA; WA; Tas; NT; ACT
Type of Learning in the last 12 months	School; Non-School; Non-Formal; Informal; Not applicable	School; Non-School; Non-Formal; Informal; Not applicable
Level of current non-school qualification	Postgraduate Degree or Graduate Diploma/Graduate Certificate; Bachelor Degree; Advanced Diploma/Diploma; Certificate III/IV; Certificate I/II; Certificate not further defined; Level not determined	Postgraduate Degree; Graduate Diploma/Graduate Certificate; Bachelor Degree; Advanced Diploma/Diploma; Certificate III/IV; Certificate I/II; Certificate not further defined; Level not determined

TIMELINESS

The Survey of Education and Training has been conducted throughout Australia every four years since 1989. The 2009 SET was conducted from March to June 2009. CURFs are also available from previous surveys. The next SET CURF is expected to be released in 2014 based on the survey to be conducted during 2013.


ACCURACY

The 2009 SET CURFs contain individual person level data (unit records) as well as details about qualifications (qualification level) and non-formal training courses (non-formal training level). The CURFs generally contain finer levels of detail of data items than what is otherwise published in other formats, for example, in Education and Training Experience, 2009 (cat. no. 6278.0). The Expanded CURF contains extra data items and a finer level of detail than the Basic CURF. For more information on the level of detail provided in the CURFs, please see the associated data item listing.

Steps to confidentialise the data made available on the CURFs are taken in such a way as to maximise the usefulness of the content while maintaining the confidentiality of respondents selected in the survey. As a result, it may not be possible to exactly reconcile all the statistics produced from the CURFs with other published statistics.

For more information on the survey methodology see Technical Manual: Survey of Education and Training, Basic and Expanded CURFs, Australia (cat. no. 6278.0.55.001).


COHERENCE

Essentially the same methodology has been used in the Survey of Education and Training since 1993, however, the scope of the surveys has differed. While the scope of the 2009 survey included persons aged 15–74 years, the questions focused on persons aged 15–64 years and persons aged 65–74 years who were in or marginally attached to the labour force. The 2005 survey included all persons aged 15 years and over, with those aged 70 years and over asked a subset of questions regardless of their employment status. The 2001 survey included all persons aged 15–64 years. In comparison, the scope of the 1997 and 1993 surveys was narrower still.

A major review of SET, involving consultation with key stakeholders, was undertaken during 2007. The content of the 2009 SET therefore differed somewhat from the 2005 collection reflecting changes that have occurred in the education and training sector in recent years and increased demand for internationally comparable data. In terms of comparison with the 2005 SET, there have also been a number of key questionnaire changes, which include; the collection of detailed information about all qualifications completed (up to a maximum of 15) compared with only the 3 highest qualifications in 2005, and significant definitional changes to the 'work related training' topic.

For more information on the comparability of the 2009 SET with previous collections see Technical Manual: Survey of Education and Training, Basic and Expanded CURFs, Australia (cat. no. 6278.0.55.001).


INTERPRETABILITY

The Technical Manual: Survey of Education and Training, Basic and Expanded CURFs, Australia (cat. no. 6278.0.55.001) is a key reference document when using the CURFs. It includes survey objectives, methods and design; survey content; data quality and interpretation; output data items; and information about the availability of results; comparability with previous surveys; and the content of the CURF files. Further information can also be found in the Explanatory Notes section of Education and Training Experience, 2009 (cat. no. 6278.0).


ACCESSIBILITY

CURF microdata are not available to the public without special access being granted. All CURF users are required to read and abide by the Responsible Access to ABS Confidentialised Unit Record Files (CURFs) Training Manual. Application to access a particular CURF can be completed and submitted for approval by following the step-by-step guide at the How to apply for Microdata web page. A full list of available CURFs can be viewed via the Expected and available Microdata.

The 2009 SET Basic CURF can be accessed on CD-ROM, in addition to being accessed through the Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL) and the ABS Data Laboratory (ABSDL). The Expanded CURF can only be accessed through the RADL and the ABSDL.

More detail regarding types and modes of access to CURFs can be found on the CURF Access Modes and Levels of Detail web page.

Any questions regarding access to CURF Microdata can be forwarded to the Microdata Access Strategies Section at <microdata.access@abs.gov.au> or phone (02) 6252 7714.