POTENTIAL NEW TOPICS
In a constantly changing society, it is inevitable that demand for new topics in the 2016 Census will be high. It is not sustainable to continue to increase the number of questions asked on the Census form.
The following are potential new topics for the 2016 Census, for which there is known user demand, and that generally rate well across the Census selection criteria. It is not expected that all of these suggested new topics will be included in the 2016 Census. Strong user support and justification will be needed for them to be included in the Census. Proposed new topics will be further assessed against the selection criteria, based on public submissions. The ABS will conduct field-testing of those topics that meet the selection criteria to a high extent, to further assess their suitability for inclusion in the Census. Some of these topics might be suitable for inclusion on a 10-yearly cycle.
Public submissions can also be provided on new topics not listed in this publication.
Click on the topic below for more details or see Supporting Information on Topics.
Educational institution address/Journey to education
This proposed new topic would involve collecting address of educational institutions and coding it to destination zones to create information on journey to education patterns and on daytime populations of specified areas. It would be useful for education and transport planning. Educational institution address would also be useful in understanding the socioeconomic characteristics of families with children at particular schools and could be used for education policy development.
Long-term health conditions
There is strong user demand for detailed knowledge of the location of people with certain long-term health conditions, particularly at the small area level. This will enable targeting of prevention and treatment programs for chronic disease. The proposed topic would collect information on a small number of health conditions, based on the national health priority areas.
Mode of travel to educational institution
Mode of travel to educational institution would complement the existing topic on Mode of travel to work, which includes response categories such as train, bus, bicycle and car driver. It would also complement the proposed new topic on Educational institution address/Journey to education, and be useful for the purposes of education and transport planning.
Second residence/Ownership of other dwelling
There is growing user interest in data about second residence, particularly in relation to: people who regularly stay in a second residence due to work commitments; children in shared custody arrangements who have an alternate usual residence from the one they stayed in on Census night; and students who regularly stay in a second residence due to educational requirements. This topic may also incorporate second property ownership.
Sources of income
This topic would identify all sources of income, such as government pensions and allowances, investment income and wages. This new topic would enhance the income data collected by the Census and extend the social analysis that can be undertaken.
Print Page
Print All