THE ‘AUSTRALIAN CULTURE AND LEISURE CLASSIFICATIONS’ ARE AVAILABLE
Currently a range of data on culture and leisure exists in Australia with these data sourced from a variety of ABS and non-ABS surveys and administrative compilations. Ideally, data from all of these sources would be comparable or complementary. However, this is often not the case as the underlying definitions and concepts used differ between sources. One way of improving coordination and comparability between data collections is to encourage the use of a common set of classifications. With respect to culture and leisure, the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (ACLC), which were released by the ABS in August, represent the first step in accomplishing this.
The ACLC consist of three parts: the Industry Classification, the Product Classification and the Occupation Classification. The Industry Classification lists industries consisting of organisations for which the main activity is the production or provision of culture and leisure goods and services. The Product Classification consists of a list of culture and leisure goods and services (together known as products). These products are the primary outputs of the industries listed in the Industry Classification; in addition, they are produced by other industries (for example, museum services may be provided by a business in the mining industry). The Occupation Classification, which is based on the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (ASCO), lists occupations which are predominantly ‘culture or leisure’ in nature.
These classifications are expected to be adopted widely by users of culture and leisure data in Australia, including those organisations outside of the ABS which need to design a survey, organise administrative data or otherwise collect or collate information. The ABS has already begun to make use of the ACLC; for example, the ABS has incorporated most of the ACLC Product Classification in the new Australian and New Zealand Standard Product Classification (ANZSPC). Furthermore, output from the surveys on sport and recreation industries, currently being undertaken by the ABS, will be aligned with the ACLC Industry Classification.
The Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (Cat. no. 4902.0) are available from ABS bookshops for $42.00. The ACLC may also be found free of charge in the Statistical Concepts Library on this site. Comments on the classifications and queries about their use or interpretation may be emailed to nccrs@abs.gov.au. Any comments on potential future developments, such as the need for additional classifications, are also welcome.
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