4720.0 - National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey: Users' Guide, 2008
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/02/2010
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POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS A comprehensive list of the data items from the survey has been released in spreadsheet format on the ABS website. The survey collected basic demographic information from one usually resident household member aged 18 years or over (ARA) for each person in a selected household. This information included:
A person was identified as Indigenous if they were:
HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS A household is defined as one or more persons, at least one of whom is aged 15 years and over, usually resident in the same private dwelling. In the 2008 NATSISS, only households with at least one Indigenous person were regarded as in scope of the survey. More information on scope and coverage is provided in the Survey design chapter. The household demographic information collected from the ARA formed the basis for a number of household characteristics, including:
Social marital status Social marital status is the relationship status of an individual with reference to another person who is usually resident in the household. A marriage exists when two people live together as husband and wife, or partners, regardless of whether the marriage is formalised through registration. Social marital status was determined, for people aged 15 years and over, from the relationship in household information as follows:
Relationship in household Relationship in household describes the relationship of each person in a family or, where a person is not part of a family, their relationship to the ARA. The detailed output categories are provided in the data item list. Family composition of household The family composition of household was determined for all persons who usually lived in, and the relationships between the persons within, the household. These included:
Family type Family type enables the differentiation of families based on the presence or absence of couple relationships, parent-child relationships, child dependency relationships, or other familial relationships. The 'family type' of a particular family is defined through assessment of certain relationships that exist between a family reference person and each other member of that family. Family type is allocated based on whether the types of relationships described below are present or not, in the following order of precedence:
The detailed output categories are provided in the data item list. Household type Households are allocated a household type based on the following:
The detailed output categories are provided in the data item list. Household composition Household composition ascertains whether all people within a household were identified as Indigenous or not. Number of persons in household A number of items provide counts of the number of (Indigenous) persons, including children/dependants, within a household. More detailed information on these items is provided in the data item list. Other household information The ARA, or another person nominated by them as a household spokesperson, answered some additional questions on behalf of other household members, including financial stress, household income, rent/mortgage payments, tenure type, number of bedrooms, household facilities and maintenance. These topics are covered in the following chapters: GEOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS Geographic characteristics are classified through a hierarchical system of geographical areas under the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). Each geographical area consists of a number of interrelated structures. For the 2008 NATSISS, the location of the selected household was used to determine several geographic characteristics, including:
State or territory of usual residence States and territories are the largest units in the geographical classification. State/territory units are political entities with fixed boundaries. This survey recognised the following units:
Section of state Section of state is based on the population count from the 2006 Census Collection District in which the household is located. The different sections are:
Part of state Each of the states and territories may be classified into two parts, or part of state, based on the household's location:
Due to the small populations of the NT and ACT, these are not divided into parts. The NT is classified as 'Balance of state' and the ACT as 'Capital city'. Remoteness area The 2008 NATSISS includes five classes within the remoteness area structure, which when aggregated, cover the whole of Australia. The levels of remoteness are:
For the 2008 NATSISS publications, the remoteness levels are generally presented as:
Depending on the available data, these levels may be further condensed to:
These levels are based on the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA), which measures the remoteness of a point based on the physical road distance to the nearest urban centre. More information on ARIA is available from the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (cat. no. 1216.0). Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) From information collected in the Census of Population and Housing, the ABS has developed a suite of indexes to allow ranking of regions/areas. The indexes provide a method for determining the level of social and economic well-being in an area, with each one summarising a different aspect of the socio-economic conditions. The 2008 NATSISS includes four measures based on the 2006 Census:
For each index, every geographic area in Australia is given a SEIFA number which shows how relatively 'disadvantaged' that area is compared with other areas in Australia. The 2008 NATSISS provides an index number for each summary measure in deciles by Collection District. For more details on SEIFA refer to Information Paper: An Introduction to Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), 2006 (cat. no. 2039.0). SELECTED PERSON CHARACTERISTICS Based on the household demographic information, Indigenous people within a household were randomly selected for a personal interview. The number of selected people differed as follows:
More information on sample design is provided in the Survey design chapter. Selected person characteristics for education, labour force status, income and language are covered in the following chapters: Child proxy Responses for selected children aged 0-14 years were provided by a proxy. This person was a usual resident of the selected household who was able to answer questions on behalf of the child. If a parent or guardian was not available, then a close relative or other household member with responsibility for the child was sought. The relationship between the proxy and the child was classified as:
The proxy may or may not have also been the child's main carer. Child's main carer The child's main carer was considered to be their mother/step-mother or father/step-father, except where neither of these lived in the household with the child. If a child did not live with their parents or step-parents, the child's proxy was asked whether they looked after the child the most. If not, the child's proxy was asked to nominate who in the household looks after the child the most. The response was based on a list of people aged 12 years and over who were identified as usual residents of the household. An 'other person' who lived in the household, but was not identified in the basic household demographic information, was also able to be specified. If the child's main carer was not one of the selected persons in the household (aged 15 years and over) then a series of questions to collect their basic demographic information were asked, including:
More detailed information for each of these items is provided in the data item list and in the respective topics of the Users' Guide. For approximately 5% of selected children, these data items are not available as the proxy was not a parent, the child's parent did not live in the household or the proxy was not the main carer. Therefore, each of the above items includes a category that is 'not collected'. Other demographic information available for the main carer includes their:
Activities the child did with main carer Several items in the 2008 NATSISS provide information on informal learning activities that the selected child undertook with their main carer. The child's proxy was asked whether in the week prior to interview the child's main carer did any of the following activities with the child aged 0-14 years:
More than one response could be provided. If the response was none of the above or don't know, the child's proxy was skipped to questions in a subsequent topic. If at least one informal learning activity was selected, the child's proxy was asked on how many days of the week the main carer spent time with the child doing the activity. A response of 1 to 7 days was possible, or they may have said they did not know. If the response was don't know, the proxy was skipped to questions in a subsequent topic. If a number of days was provided, the child's proxy was asked about the days the main carer spent with the child and on average, how many hours each day they spent doing the selected activities. Responses were based on the following:
The proxy may have been unable to provide some of the information required due to the child being away from the household in the week prior to interview. For example, where a shared custody arrangement exists for the child and they spend time in two separate households. Assumed parent or guardian The 2008 NATSISS contains a new measure which broadly tries to define parent-child type relationships within a selected household. The measure provides the number of Indigenous persons who are the assumed parent or guardian of one or more Indigenous children. In some cases, the person identified as being a parent or guardian will be an actual parent of the child, but if the child does not live with their parents then the parent relationship assigned may relate to a guardian, grandparent or other relative living in the household. The population of assumed parents or guardians is limited and excludes:
Two measures are available
For each couple or one-parent family in the household, Indigenous parents/guardians and Indigenous children are identified as set out below. Where both an Indigenous child and an Indigenous parent/guardian are found the ASPOG flag is set against the corresponding parent/guardian record. Assumed parents guardians of Indigenous children aged 0–14 years Indigenous parent/guardian is:
Indigenous children are defined as:
Assumed parents guardians of Indigenous children aged 0–17 years Indigenous parent/guardian is:
Indigenous children are defined as:
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