COMPARING CLASSIFICATIONS

CORRESPONDENCES

Correspondences enable users to convert historical data from the First edition of SACC to Second edition SACC 2011.

Correspondences between the structures of the two editions are provided in the Excel workbook on the Downloads tab. Because, in most cases, the base-level units of the classification (countries) are identical, the correspondences are straightforward. The correspondences itemise the code linkages between the countries, detail the links between the major groups and the minor groups, and indicate the movement of particular countries between groups in the two structures.


THE UNITED NATIONS (UN) STANDARD COUNTRY OR AREA CODES

The aggregation of countries in the UN classification is done on a strictly continental basis, the groupings do not always meet the requirements of Australian users. The geographically based structure of the SACC has been developed giving emphasis to social, cultural, economic and political criteria and to groupings that are relevant to Australia's multicultural society. The resultant classification is more useful than the UN classification for the collection, dissemination and analysis of country based information in Australia. However, the units and groupings of the two classifications are broadly compatible and it is possible to correspond data based on the SACC to the UN classification for the purposes of international comparison. The correspondence table is provided in the Excel workbook on the Downloads tab.