NATIONAL ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER SOCIAL SURVEY
The 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) (cat. no. 4714.0) surveyed some 13,300 Indigenous people, of which 7,300 were 15 years and over. Although the underlying concepts were the same as in the LFS, the questions and definitions relating to the labour force differed slightly from those used in the LFS.
Population differences
The NATSISS estimates were benchmarked to the low series Indigenous population projections for those aged 15 years and over living in private dwellings in each state and territory, at 31 December 2008. Consequently, the NATSISS benchmarks are lower than the benchmarks used for LFS annual estimates, which include people living in other types of dwellings, such as hotels and boarding houses.
Questionnaire differences
In addition to the differing population bases, labour force estimates from NATSISS are likely to be different to the LFS due to the use of a shorter questionnaire module in the NATSISS. This questionnaire module has been found to categorise 1% of unemployed persons (as defined by the LFS) as not in the labour force. Also, there are also some situations where people who would be classified as either unemployed or not in the labour force in the LFS, are classified as employed when the reduced questionnaire module is used (about 0.1% of employed).
The NATSISS also differs from current LFS practices by specifically asking about participation in CDEP. All respondents were asked whether they were CDEP participants, regardless of whether they reported having a job in the reference week or not. Therefore, while some respondents in the NATSISS did not consider CDEP participation to be a job, they were classified as employed due to their participation in CDEP.
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