WELCOME

INTRODUCTION AND NEWS

Welcome to another edition of Children and Youth News. This is the first edition of Children and Youth News that the ABS has released since Children and Youth Statistics have come under the management of Family and Community Statistics Section within the Social Statistics Group. This move will help strengthen integration with statistics covering major themes relevant to children and youth such as living conditions, childcare and health.

This newsletter provides information on a large range of statistical releases, developments and events relevant to children and youth. It also presents some interesting findings from the General Social Survey and Survey of Voluntary Work.

I hope you enjoy Children and Youth News.

Eric Morris
Director
Family and Community Statistics

CHILDREN AND YOUTH STATISTICAL PORTAL (CYSP)


The Children and Youth Statistical Portal (CYSP), which is the pilot project of the National Data Network (NDN) was released on 8 October 2007. The objective of the CYSP is to improve both the visibility and accessibility to information resources (i.e. data, tools and services) relating to the theme of children and youth. The CYSP provides access to a range of children and youth resources from a single location. Information resources contained in the initial release will be limited to those that are publicly available. However, those requiring controlled access arrangements will be added in the future.

This initial release of the Portal also contains a discussion forum to enable custodians, researchers and users to discuss statistical issues in the children and youth field. This Forum is moderated and users need to be registered to 'post' to the Forum, with moderated 'posts' publicly available.

If you have any feedback on the portal, please contact the NDN Business Office on (02) 6252 5875 or email inquiries@nationaldatanetwork.org.2006 CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING

Both first and second release 2006 Census Results are now available.

The 2006 Census collected a wealth of data on Australia's children and youth population. Data is now available for free on the ABS website.

Several online tools are available on the Census home page on the ABS website:

• QuickStats - A summary of key Census data for a chosen area (your neighbourhood, capital city, state/territory), benchmarked against Australia.
• Census Tables - Individual tables of Census data, available on a range of topics, for a chosen location. Census tables provide for an in-depth picture on specific topics, as well as for comparisons of 1996, 2001 and 2006 Census.
• MapStats - A series of thematic maps showing the distribution of Census data for a chosen location.
• Community profiles - A collection of various tables showing Census data in detail, for a chosen location.

In addition to the above Table Builder is a product that for the first time in ABS history, gives users remote access to the complete Census Unit Record file. It is designed for experienced users of Census data and allows for the extraction and manipulation of an unlimited number of Census tables. Confidentialisation of the data is conducted during delivery of the data. Table Builder allows users to create tables, graphs and thematic maps of Census data. Table Builder is a subscription only service and will be available between late 2007 and early 2008.

For further help in accessing 2006 Census data contact the ABS National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or via the following email address client.services@abs.gov.au.