USUAL RESIDENCE AT CENSUS TIME
JUSTIFICATION
Information on usual residence at Census time is essential to the production of accurate state, territory and local government resident population estimates, a primary objective of the Census.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
A question on a person’s place of usual residence at Census time was first included in the 1961 Census when people who were temporarily absent from their usual residence were asked to name their state or territory of usual residence (or overseas if appropriate). The topic was not included in 1966 but has been included in all Censuses since 1971.
USER REQUIREMENTS
Resident population estimates are used to determine the number of seats in the House of Representatives allocated to each state and territory, and the distribution of funds to the states, territories and local government authorities.
Data on length of time spent at the usual residence, and address of previous usual residence, is required to assess the social capital and cohesive aspects of various communities.
AVAILABILITY OF NON-CENSUS DATA
Many ABS surveys include questions on usual residence of members of the household. However, small sample sizes do not enable generation of data of sufficient accuracy for use in compiling resident population estimates for local government areas.
POSSIBLE CHANGES FOR 2011
For the 2011 Census, there will be changes to the geographic outputs for the Census. For more information about the proposed directions, see 'Geographic Outputs' (in Results and Output)
This topic is being reviewed for the 2011 Census to examine the feasibility of expanding the topic to collect:
- length of time the person has been residing at the current address
- address of previous usual residence.
Expanding the question to collect additional information on the duration of residence, and address of previous usual residence will enable the assessment of the settlement characteristics of persons within communities.
Collection of data related to address of previous usual residence will need to be considered in conjunction with the Internal migration topic. It is anticipated that a question on address of previous usual residence, if included in the 2011 Census, would replace one or both of the questions on Internal migration.
The ABS is also considering expansion of the 'Other country' response to require the name of the country in which the person usually lives.
2006 CENSUS QUESTION
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