QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY


IN THIS SECTION

Institutional Environment
Relevance
Timeliness
Accuracy
Coherence
Interpretability
Accessibility


INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

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

This collection presents information about the labour force characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians aged 15 years and over. The information is based on data collected in the national monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS). Revised data from previous years has also been included with this publication for comparison purposes.


TIMELINESS

The Labour Force Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians combines data collected from each monthly Labour Force Survey conducted through out the calendar year. The results obtained from combining this data is released approximately 5 months after the end of the calendar year (ie during May).


ACCURACY

A number of statistical issues need to be considered when using LFS estimates to describe Indigenous labour force characteristics. Some of these statistical issues arise because the LFS is designed primarily to provide reliable estimates for the whole of Australia and for each state and territory, rather than estimates for small populations. The small size of the Indigenous population, its wide dispersion, and the relatively high proportion who live in remote areas present particular difficulties. To help in the interpretation of the estimates the publication discusses these statistical issues in Concepts, Sources and Methods.


COHERENCE

Apart from the information presented in this publication, information on the labour force characteristics of the Indigenous population is also available from:

• Census of Population and Housing, 2006

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS), 2008 (cat. no. 4714.0)

• National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (NATSIHS), 2004-05 (cat. no. 4715.0)

Although the estimates available from the non-LFS sources are based on the same underlying concepts as the LFS, there are differences which affect the comparability of data. The publication details the differences between the various sources in Other Sources of Information.


INTERPRETABILITY

The Labour Force Characteristics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians release contains a summary of findings (Participation, Employment and Unemployment) to aid interpretation of the results of the survey. Detailed explanatory notes, a technical note, a glossary and details of the methodology and concepts used (in Concepts, Sources and Methods) are also included to further aid in the interpretation of the results.


ACCESSIBILITY

The main products from this collection are a series of excel spreadsheets (available in Downloads) that are released electronically via the ABS website. Additional data may be available on request. However, the sample size of the collection, and the resulting standard errors, limits the ability for estimates to be broken down much further than what is already available in the publication.


For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email client.services@abs.gov.au or Aaron Greenup on Canberra (02) 6252 6525, email labourforce@abs.gov.au