2900.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Understanding the Census and Census Data, Australia , 2016

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/11/2017 First Issue

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Understanding the Census and Census Data How we collected your information Turning your information into Census data + Understanding Census data quality + Understanding the data + Person variables AGEP Age ANCP Ancestry Multi Response ASSNP Core Activity Need for Assistance BPFP Country of Birth of Mother BPLP Country of Birth of Person BPMP Country of Birth of Father BPPP Country of Birth of Parents CHCAREP Unpaid Child Care CITP Australian Citizenship CTGP Child Type (including grandchildren) CTPP Child Type DOMP Unpaid Domestic Work Number of Hours EETP Engagement in Employment, Education and Training EMPP Number of Employees ENGLP Proficiency in Spoken English Language ENGP Proficiency in Spoken English GNGP Public Private Sector HEAP Level of Highest Educational Attainment HRSP Hours Worked HSCP Highest Year of School Completed INCP Total Personal Income (weekly) INDP Industry of Employment INGP Indigenous Status LANP Language Spoken at Home LFHRP Labour Force Status and Hours Worked Not Stated LFSP Labour Force Status MDCP Social Marital Status MSTP Registered Marital Status MTWP Method of Travel to Work OCCP Occupation POWP Place of Work PUR1P Place of Usual Residence One Year Ago PUR5P Place of Usual Residence Five Years Ago PURP Place of Usual Residence QALFP Non-School Qualification Field of Study QALLP Non-School Qualification Level of Education RELP Religious Affiliation RLCP Relationship as Reported for Couples RLGP Relationship in Household (including grandchildren) RLHP Relationship in Household RLNP Residential Status in a Non-Private Dwelling RPIP Family Household Reference Person Indicator SEXP Sex SIEMP Status in Employment SLPP Sex of Lone Parent STUP Full-Time Part-Time Student Status TISP Number of Children Ever Born TYPP Type of Educational Institution Attending TYSTAP Educational Institution Attendee Status UAI1P Usual Address One Year Ago Indicator UAI5P Usual Address Five Years Ago Indicator UAICP Usual Address Indicator Census Night UNCAREP Unpaid Assistance to a Person with a Disability VOLWP Voluntary Work for an Organisation or Group YARP Year of Arrival in Australia CDPP Community Development Programme Participation Distance to Work National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA) Indicators OPGP Homelessness Operational Groups + Family variables + Dwelling variables + Conceptual information About this Release History of Changes	Sex (SEXP, IFSEXP) This variable records each person's sex as either male or female. It is applicable to all persons. How this variable is created Responses to the question 'Is the person male or female?' were captured automatically from mark box responses on the form so the risk of processing error is minimal. Images of this question is provided below. If a form was received from a dwelling, but no response was recorded to the question, sex was imputed. Previously (including 2011 Census), sex was imputed using other information on the form, such as name, relationship or number of children. If sex could not be derived using this information, it was allocated at random. In 2016, if sex was missing on partially completed forms, it was imputed by checking if the person's legal spouse was recorded in the dwelling and whether they recorded their sex. If they did, then the opposite sex was assigned. Manual coding processes then allowed coders to assign sex based on name or other related information. Finally, for remaining records, sex was imputed and was allocated at random. For private dwellings where a form was not returned and the number of males and females is unknown, two imputation processes are performed. Initially, these records have their number of males and females imputed using hotdecking. Then a second imputation (also using hotdecking) is run to impute the key demographic variables (age, marital status and usual address) for the newly created person records. Hot decking uses 'donor' records using selected criteria to assign sex. If a person in a non-private dwelling did not return a form, their demographic characteristics are copied from another person in a similar non-private dwelling using Type of Non-Private Dwelling. The variable Imputation Flag for Sex (IFSEXP) is new for 2016 and indicates if a person's sex was imputed in the Census. There are two categories: 01 Sex not imputed 02 Sex imputed More information on imputations is available in the Glossary of the Census Dictionary and in Turning your information into Census data. Variable history A question on Sex has been asked at every Census since 1911. In 2016, respondents had the option to respond as 'other sex'. If a person wanted to identify as other than male or female, they were instructed to call the Census Inquiry Service for information on how to identify on the Census forms. To respond online, they were given specific login details to access an alternate form which allowed them to select 'other' and could enter in information in a 'please specify' text box if they wished to provide more information. To respond on paper form, they were instructed to write on the right hand side of the response area and these were checked manually to record a respondent's 'other sex' category. Non-response rate A non-response rate is not available for Sex. As Sex is a key demographic variable it is imputed using other information on the form. The variable Imputation Flag for Sex (IFSEXP) indicates if a person's sex was imputed in the Census. Using the new Imputation Flag for Sex, the non-response rate for this variable was 5.7%. For more information, refer to Understanding Census data quality. Data usage notes Other sex An analytical article will be released in October that details the outcome of providing 'other' sex response. All paper form responses that were potentially indicative of an 'other sex' response were manually checked, as it is possible for respondents making written comments in the form to be incorrectly identified as having selected 'other sex'. Imputation In 2011, for some non-responding private dwellings Census Field Officers were able to obtain an estimate of the numbers of males and females staying in the dwelling and this was used as credible information to draw upon during the imputation process. This was not available in 2016 under the new collection method. Further information More information on Sex is available in the 2016 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0). Reflecting Australia: Stories from the Census, 2016 will include a brief overview on Australia for results on 'other sex', with more comprehensive articles planned for later release in 2017. Household form question image Question 3 as it appeared on the 2016 Census Household Paper Form Question 2 as it appeared on the 2016 Census Household Online Form: A text only version of the online Census Household form is available from the Downloads tab. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.