INTRODUCTION


This MicroData Product provides information about microdata from the 2009-10 Family Characteristics Survey (FCS). Microdata are the most detailed information available from a survey and are generally the responses to individual questions on the questionnaire or data derived from two or more questions and are released with the approval of the Australian Statistician.

AVAILABLE PRODUCTS

The microdata from this survey are available as an Expanded CURF via the Remote Access Data Laboratory (RADL) and ABS Data Laboratory (ABSDL)

Further information about these services, and other information to assist users in understanding and accessing CURFs in general, is available from the CURF Microdata Entry Page on the ABS web site.

Before you apply for access, users should read and familiarise themselves with the information contained in this product and the User Manual: Responsible Use of ABS CURFs.

To apply for access press the green button below.



FURTHER INFORMATION

Further information about the survey and the CURF can be found in this technical manual:

• A detailed list of data items for the Expanded CURF is available on the Downloads tab
• The Quality Declaration, Abbreviations and Glossary relating to the CURF can be found in the Explanatory Notes tab
• Other related products can be found on the Related Information tab.

DATA AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Data obtained in the survey but not contained on the CURF may be available from the ABS, on request, as statistics in tabulated form.

Subject to confidentiality and sampling variability constraints, special tabulations can be produced incorporating data items, populations and geographic areas selected to meet individual requirements. These are available on request, on a fee for service basis. Contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or client.services@abs.gov.au for further information.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The 2009-10 FCS was conducted as part of the Multi-Purpose Household Survey (MPHS), which is a supplement to the ABS Monthly Population Survey (MPS). The MPHS was conducted in both urban and rural areas in all states and territories, excluding very remote parts of Australia, from July 2009 to June 2010. The MPHS is designed to provide statistics annually for labour, social and economic topics. The Family Characteristics topic has been conducted before, in 1982, 1992, 1997, 2003 and 2006-07 and the content is largely repeated, allowing comparisons over time. The Family Characteristics topic collected information on household and family composition, with a particular focus on families with children aged 0–17 years. The additional information collected for families with children included information about family structure, the social marital status of the parents, and contact arrangements for children with non-resident parents. In the 2009-10 survey, information was also collected about children's contact with their grandparents, and about child support arrangements for children with a natural parent living elsewhere.

The MPHS also collected a range of socio-demographic information, including labour force status, educational qualifications and household income, some of which has been included in this CURF. Estimates from the 2009-10 FCS were published in Family Characteristics, Australia, 2009-10 (cat. no. 4442.0).