THE BUREAU OF RURAL SCIENCES AND COUNTRY MATTERS
Many organisations turn to census data to provide necessary information for the development of government policy. No other statistical collection has the coverage of the Census of Population and Housing, making it ideal for examining the characteristics of small areas.
The Bureau of Rural Sciences is one such organisation that has made extensive use of census data to inform policy. Their recent publication, Country Matters: a Social Atlas of Rural and Regional Australia is a close analysis of data from the 2001 Census, focusing on the people and communities of regional Australia.
The Bureau of Rural Sciences is a scientific agency within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. It provides advice to Government to support evidence-based policy development leading to more competitive and sustainable primary industry and stronger rural and regional communities.
Country Matters looks at the differences between people living in Metropolitan and non-Metropolitan areas. Non-metropolitan Australia has a higher proportion of older people, more Indigenous people, and fewer recent overseas migrants.
In recognition of the considerable variation in rural and regional Australia, from large regional cities to very sparsely-populated remote areas, Country Matters also consists of commentary and a number of thematic maps detailing the similarities and differences between areas. The publication uses the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE) regional classification for its regional analysis of census data.
The publication also makes use of Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) to examine the socio-economic status of regional areas, and uses 1996 Census data to analyse changes over time.
Country Matters: a Social Atlas of Rural and Regional Australia is published by the Bureau of Regional Sciences and is available to view or purchase on their web site, www.brs.gov.au .
Interested in More Information from the Census about Rural and Regional Areas?
You may also be interested in the Micro-dynamics of Change in Australian Agriculture (cat. no. 2055.0), published as part of the Australian Census Analytic Program. This publication examines data from the 2001 Census of Population and Housing alongside data from the 2001 Agricultural Census in order to look at farming communities in their fullest context. The research explores the major occupational decisions of farmers, changes in the structure of the farming population and the social sustainability of farming communities.
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