Household and Demographic Characteristics

The 2021-22 PSS collected basic demographic information about each usual resident in the household via a household form.

The data produced (either from direct collection or derived) from the household form for each person includes:

• age
• sex
• registered marital status
• social marital status
• country of birth
• year of arrival (if born overseas)
• family composition.

For household demographic data, the data items and related categories are contained within the Household level tab (under Household characteristics) in the data item list available under Downloads. These are restricted to general household information such as household composition, number of persons living in the household, and number of persons living in the household by varying age groups.

For the person who was selected as the respondent (and, where applicable, their current partner), available data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the SPS Level – Demographics tab (under General Demographics of Respondent/General Demographics of Partner) in the data item list available under Downloads.  See Person Demographics in this chapter for a definition of current partner.

The household form was completed by a usual resident of the household aged 18 years or over (referred to as an ‘ARA’ – any responsible adult). Therefore, all details are as known and reported by the ARA. An adult usual resident of the household was then randomly selected for a personal survey interview. The selected respondent may have been the ARA who completed the household form or another adult usual resident of the household. Approximately one-quarter of the selected survey respondents were not the ARA.

Age

Age was collected via the reporting of date of birth or the person’s age at last birthday.

Sex

Sex information was collected using the question ‘what is your/name’s sex’. The response categories available were ‘male’, ‘female’ and ‘another term’. Where ‘another term’ was selected, the ARA was asked to provide more detail.

The 2021-22 PSS was developed in 2019 prior to the release of the Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables (2020). As such, some responses to the sex question may reflect gender rather than sex (or sex at birth) as determined by the ARA.

Registered marital status

Registered marital status was derived from several questions and was reported for persons aged 15 years and over in the household. Responses from these questions determined which of the following categories was applicable:

• never married
• widowed
• divorced
• separated
• married (in a registered marriage).

Social marital status

Social marital status was derived from several questions and was reported for persons aged 15 years and over in the household. Responses were classified as:

• Married – if living with another person in a couple relationship, which was reported as either a registered marriage or a de facto marriage. Includes persons living with a person of the same sex in a couple relationship.
• Not married – if not living with another person in a couple relationship. Includes persons living alone, with other family members, or in shared accommodation. Includes persons in a registered or de facto marriage whose partners were not usually resident in the household.

Country of birth

Country of birth (COB) was recorded using a picklist of 10 countries, or a country trigram coder (for more details on trigram coders see Data Processing and Coding chapter of this publication).

Each person was classified to the 2016 Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC). The SACC provides guidelines for consistent collection, aggregation, and dissemination of statistics by country. Standard output for this classification is discussed in the Classifications and Standards chapter of this publication.

Year of arrival in Australia

Year of arrival in Australia was recorded for each person in the household who was reported as having a country of birth other than Australia. The year specified was the year they first arrived in Australia to live for a period of one year or more. Individual year of arrival was recorded and can be grouped as required for output for the respondent (and their current partner, where applicable).

Persons not intending to live in Australia for one year or more were not in scope of the survey and not considered part of the household. Therefore, when identified, they were excluded from the data so as to not be included in household characteristic variables.

Family composition

To produce family composition information, the following information was collected:

• The relationship of each person in the household to the first person listed on the household form (referred to as the household reference person – HRP).  If the person was not a parent, partner, child, or sibling to the HRP, information was collected on whether they were more closely related to someone else in the household and who this person was.
• To determine dependency of older children (aged 15-24 years), information was collected on whether 15-19 year-olds were attending secondary school.  If not, they and persons aged 20-24 were asked if they were studying full-time for a certificate, diploma, degree or any other educational qualification.

Family composition enables the differentiation of families based on the presence or absence of couple relationships, parent-child relationships, child dependency relationships, or other familial relationships. Family composition is allocated based on whether the types of relationships described below are present or not, in the following order of precedence:

• Couple relationship – a registered or de facto marriage.
• Parent-child relationship – a relationship between two persons usually resident in the same household. The child is attached to the parent through a natural, adoptive, step, foster or child dependency relationship (see below for more information).
• Child dependency relationship – all children under the age of 15 years (whether related or unrelated to the family reference person) and those natural, adopted, step or foster children who were full-time students aged 15-24 years were identified as dependent.  Those children aged 15-24 years who were not full-time students, and children aged 25 years and over, were identified as non-dependent.
• Other family relationships – all people related by blood or by marriage who were not covered by the above-described relationships.

In addition to detailed family composition data, family composition (in less detailed format) broken down by same-sex couple information is also produced.

Household composition

Households were allocated a household composition based on the following:

• The number of families present in a household and whether unrelated household members were present in a family household.
• In a non-family household, whether the number of household members was greater than one (lone person or group household).

For details on how families were determined, see Family composition above.

In addition to the demographics data collected for all persons in the household outlined above, additional demographics were collected and/or produced for the selected respondent, including:

• family role
• sexual orientation
• whether respondent has a current partner
• whether respondent is in a same-sex relationship with current partner
• whether respondent has had a previous partner.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the SPS Level – Demographics tab (under General Demographics of Respondent) in the data item list, available under Downloads.

The term ‘partner’ in the PSS is used to describe a person the respondent currently lives with, or lived with at some point, in a married or de facto relationship.

For the purposes of the PSS, current and previous partner have been defined as follows:

• Current partner – the person the respondent currently lives with in a married or de facto relationship
• Previous partner – a person the respondent lived with at some point in a married or de facto relationship, and from whom the respondent is now separated

Note: While respondents may consider a partner to be current, for the purposes of the survey, if their current partner was someone they have lived with but no longer lived with at the time of interview, they are defined as a previous partner. Current partner demographic information is only collected for the current partner the respondent was living with at the time of the survey.

Family role

The family role of the respondent was produced using information from the relationship questions on the household form (see Family composition in Household Demographics section of this chapter) answered by the ARA.  The categories identify whether the respondent was a parent, child or other relative within the family.

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation was collected as part of the personal questionnaire.

Sexual orientation is an umbrella concept that encapsulates:

• sexual identity (how a person thinks of their sexuality and the terms they identify with)
• attraction (romantic or sexual interest in another person)
• behaviour (sexual behaviour).

Responses to a sexual orientation question are a subjective view of oneself and can change over the course of a person's lifetime and in different contexts. An individual could respond differently to questions on either sexual identity, attraction or behaviour.

Whether respondent has a current partner

Information about whether the respondent had a current partner was primarily collected via the household form, as determined by the ARA. For the definition of current partner for this survey, see Definition of partner above.

Whether respondent is in same-sex relationship with current partner

Information about whether the respondent was in a same-sex relationship with their current partner was produced using sex and relationship information collected from the household form as reported by the ARA. For the definition of current partner for this survey, see Definition of partner above.

Whether respondent has had a previous partner

Whether the respondent had ever had a previous partner was identified by two methods:

• the respondent reporting they had experienced violence by a previous partner
• through a specific question at the beginning of the emotional abuse topic which asked (respondents who hadn’t previously reported a previous partner) if they had ever lived with a previous partner.

For the definition of previous partner for this survey, see Definition of partner above.

The ABS housing standards provide standard methods for compiling statistics about the tenure, occupancy, and physical characteristics of Australian dwellings. The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the Household level tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

Tenure type

Tenure type describes the legal basis by which a person occupied a dwelling and includes the following categories:

• owner without a mortgage
• owner with a mortgage
• life tenure scheme
• participant of shared equity scheme
• renter
• rent-free
• other.

Landlord type

Landlord type classifies renting households, income units, and persons into the different types of contractual relationship one or more members of the counting unit has with the most immediate landlord external to the counting unit, to which rent is paid, or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made. It provides a more detailed break-down of the tenure categories 'renter', 'boarder' as well as 'rent-free'. The landlord type output categories include:

• real estate agent
• state or territory housing authority
• person not in the same household – parent/other relative
• person not in the same household – other person
• owner/manager of caravan park
• employer – government (incl. Defence Housing Authority)
• employer – other employer
• housing co-operative/community/church group
• other.

Number of bedrooms

Number of bedrooms refers to the number of rooms within a dwelling that are defined as bedrooms on the dwelling plans. This includes bedrooms which have been created or removed because of alterations and additions to the dwelling (such as built-in verandas, extensions, sunrooms, etc.) which the occupants of a dwelling consider to be bedrooms. Other rooms on the plans such as lounge, family or dining rooms which are used as bedrooms are excluded. A studio apartment or bedsitter is considered to have no bedrooms, as there is no separate room in which to sleep, and is classified as 0 bedrooms. 

This item was collected and output as continuous and categorical items.

Housing Suitability

This variable is a measure of housing utilisation based on a comparison of the number of bedrooms in a dwelling with a series of household demographics, such as the number of usual residents, their relationship to each other, age, and sex. The criteria are based on the Canadian National Occupancy Standard. This variable can be used to identify if a dwelling is either under- or over- utilised by comparing the number of bedrooms required with the actual number of bedrooms in the dwelling. The output categories include:

• at least 4 more bedrooms needed
• 3 more bedrooms needed
• 2 more bedrooms needed
• 1 more bedroom needed
• none required / none spare
• 1 bedroom spare
• 2 bedrooms spare
• 3 bedrooms spare
• 4 bedrooms spare
• 5 or more bedrooms spare.

Data from the 2021-22 PSS can be output for specific geographies from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), July 2016. In addition, the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage and the Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage/Disadvantage is available.

There are limits to the extent to which survey data can be compiled for detailed geographies, particularly those with smaller populations. The ability of the survey to provide reliable estimates is dependent upon factors such as the number of persons sampled within a particular area and the level of disaggregation required (that is, the number of variables cross-classified/level of detail required for each variable).

In addition, it should be remembered that the male sample was designed to produce reliable national estimates, whereas the female sample was designed to both produce reliable national and state/territory estimates. Therefore, the ability to use more detailed geography will be limited by the sample design as well as the achieved sample.

The data items and related output categories for this topic are contained within the Household level tab in the data item list available under Downloads.

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:

• New South Wales (NSW)
• Victoria (VIC)
• Queensland (QLD)
• South Australia (SA)
• Western Australia (WA)
• Tasmania (TAS)
• Northern Territory (NT)
• Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSA) are designed to represent the functional area of each of the eight state and territory capital cities, which includes populations who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, but may live either in the city or in the small towns and rural areas surrounding the city. Within each state and territory, the area not included in the GCCSA is represented by a ‘balance of state’ region.

With the exception of the ACT, households in each state and territory are classified into one of two categories, depending on the household's location:

• capital city
• balance of state.

All households in the ACT are classified as 'capital city' as the whole of the ACT is included in the GCCSA.

Remoteness Areas

The Remoteness Areas (RAs) divide Australia into broad geographic regions that share common characteristics of remoteness for statistical purposes. The Remoteness Structure divides each state and territory into several regions based on their relative access to services. There are five classes of RA in the Remoteness Structure: Major Cities of Australia, Inner Regional Australia, Outer Regional Australia, Remote Australia, and Very Remote Australia. RAs are based on the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) produced by the Hugo Centre for Population and Migration Studies at the University of Adelaide.

For the PSS, only the first four remoteness areas are available. Persons residing in very remote areas were not in scope of the survey.

Section of State

Section of State (SOS) groups Urban Centres and Localities into classes of urban areas based on population size, and the remainder is considered to be rural. The population sizes are based on the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

SOS provides the broadest definition of ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ Australia and enables statistical comparisons of differently sized urban centres and the balancing 'rural areas'. It separates each state or territory into up to 4 classes of urban or rural:

• major urban – represents a combination of all Urban Centres with a population of 100,000 or more
• other urban – represents a combination of all Urban Centres with a population between 1,000 and 99,999
• bounded locality – represents a combination of all Localities (can include some large localities with a population greater than 1000)
• rural balance – represents the remainder of state/territory.

The SOS categories of 'major urban' and 'other urban' are regarded as 'urban'.

The SOS categories of 'bounded locality' and 'rural balance' are regarded as 'rural'.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) is a product developed by the ABS that ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. It is a suite of four indexes that have been created from social and economic information collected through the Census. Each index ranks geographic areas across Australia in terms of their relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.  The ABS broadly defines relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage in terms of people's access to material and social resources, and their ability to participate in society.

The PSS includes two of the available indexes.  These are the:

• Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage – This index ranks areas on a continuum from most disadvantaged to least disadvantaged. A low score on this index indicates a high proportion of relatively disadvantaged people in an area. However, it cannot be concluded that an area with a very high score has a large proportion of relatively advantaged people, as there are no variables in the index to indicate this. It can be concluded that such an area has a relatively low proportion of disadvantaged people.
• Index of Relative Socio-Economic Advantage/Disadvantage – This index ranks areas on a continuum from most disadvantaged to most advantaged. An area with a high score on this index has a relatively high proportion of advantaged people and a relatively low proportion of disadvantaged people.

The SEIFA indexes used for PSS are calculated at the national level, with the indexes output as both a score and in deciles. The PSS provides the indexes using SA1 (Statistical Area Level 1) as a base area.

For more details on SEIFA refer to 2033.0.55.001 - Census of Population and Housing: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2016.