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 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 Multipurpose Household Survey (MPHS) CURF is an Expanded CURF and contains information on two topics, Environmental Views and Behaviours and Household Use of Information Technology (HUIT). Topics covered include personal energy use, personal water use, waste collection and disposal, computer access, internet access at home and elsewhere etc. Information on the level of detail provided on the unit record file can be found in the data item list.


TIMELINESS

The 2007-08 MPHS was collected from July 2007 to June 2008 and the CURF released seven months after completion of enumeration.

The HUIT topic has been collected annually on the MPHS since 2004-05. The most recent Household Use of Information Technology (cat. no. 8146.0) publication was released on 18 December 2008. This topic will be collected again in the 2008-09 MPHS but thereafter biennially.

This is the first time the Environment Views and Behaviour topic was collected on the MPHS. The Environmental Views and Behaviour (4626.0.55.001) product was released on 15 January 2009.


ACCURACY

The MPHS CURF contains individual person level data (unit records). Along with unit record data, the CURF contains finer levels of detail for data items than what is otherwise published. For more information on the level of detail provided in the CURF please see the data item list.

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

For more information on the Survey Methodology, see Technical Manual: Multipurpose Household Survey, Expanded CURF, Australia, 2007-2008 (cat. no. 4100.0).


COHERENCE

HUIT has been included on the MPHS since 2004-05. Prior to 2004-05 data on household use of information technology was collected by the ABS on a number of different surveys. While the ABS seeks to maximise consistency and comparability over time by minimising changes to the survey; sound survey practice requires ongoing development to maintain the integrity of the data. In the main, the data included in this MPHS CURF are comparable to previous MPHS CURFs. The data are however not directly comparable to data collected in other surveys. For a more detailed discussion of these difference see the Explanatory Notes of HUIT Household Use of Information Technology (cat. no. 8146.0).

This is the first time the Environmental Views and Behaviours topic has been collected as a personal interview by the ABS. For further discussion on the comparability between this topic and other collections see Environmental Views and Behaviour (4626.0.55.001).


INTERPRETABILITY

The Technical Manual: Multipurpose Household Survey, Expanded CURF, Australia, 2007-2008 (cat. no. 4100.0) is a key source for consultation when using the CURF. It includes survey objectives, methods and design; survey content; data quality and interpretation; output data items; and information about the availability of results; and the content of the CURF file. Further information can also be found in the Explanatory Notes section of the publications Household Use of Information Technology (cat. no. 8146.0) and Environmental Views and Behaviour (4626.0.55.001).


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 microdata can be done by following the steps listed in the 'How do I apply for CURFs' Frequently Asked Questions. A full list of available CURFs can be viewed via the 'List of Available CURFs'.

The Expanded CURF can be accessed through the Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL) and the ABS Data Laboratory (ABSDL). More detail regarding types and modes of access to CURFs can be found on CURF Access Modes and Levels of Detail web page.

If you have any questions regarding access to CURF Microdata please contact the Microdata Access Strategies Section at <microdata.access@abs.gov.au> or call (02) 6252 7714.