The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has identified new and existing topics for testing and potential inclusion in the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.
The eight new topics to be tested are Chronic health conditions; Journey to education; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity; Current or previous Defence Force service; Smoking status; Non-binary sex and/or gender identity; Sexual orientation, and more contemporary measures of household and family relationships, including shared care of children.
Two topics proposed for possible removal from the 2021 Census are household internet access (the question is now less relevant with most households reporting they can access the internet due to the growth in mobile devices); and the number of motor vehicles in a household (information which is available from other data sources).
Director Responsible for Census Topic Consultations at ABS, Caroline Deans said the ABS’s topic review process was undertaken before every Census to ensure information collected remained relevant as Australia changed.
“The ABS identified the topics to be considered for the 2021 Census following an extensive public consultation process between April and June this year,” Ms Deans said.
“This included over 450 submissions received and meetings with a range of stakeholders.
“The ABS will now review these potential topics in-depth by consulting further with key stakeholders to refine data needs, ascertain statistical quality, assess cost and operational implications, and develop and test possible questions.”
She said the ABS wanted its most valuable dataset, the Census, to grow in its usefulness while not creating an unnecessarily long or complex form.
“This is especially important given the Census must be completed for every person in the country,” Ms Deans said.
A final list of recommended new topics will be presented to the Government in mid-2019 and the ABS will list the final 2021 census questions in an information paper in late 2020.
