2902.0 - Census Update (Newsletter), Apr 2001  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/06/2001   
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Release of 2001 census templates for the Community Profile Series

The Community Profile Series templates are the result of feedback received in the final phase of user consultations on the 2001 Census Output Program. The Information Paper 2001 Census of Population and Housing: Proposed Products and Services (ABS Cat. no. 2011.0), and accompanying supplement, outlined the details and format of the proposed tables and invited users to comment via a questionnaire.

The ABS would like to thank all of those who contributed to the recent extensive consultation process. Your input, whether it was through your participation in the user seminars held in each of the capital cities or through the provision of comments and suggestions via a completed questionnaire have been invaluable.

Overall, there was strong endorsement of the proposed tables. However, careful consideration of the feedback has resulted in some important changes being implemented. Most significantly, there was mixed reaction to the reintroduction of cells containing proportions of the total attributed to each row. Balancing the views presented to us, ABS has decided to exclude them from the standard templates. However, these, and other, proportions will be able to be calculated from the information contained in the tables using the free manipulation software provided with the Profile data, or other industry standard tabulation software such as Excel or Lotus123.

Other changes resulting from the consultation process include:

    • more detailed classifications and consistent aggregations where appropriate;
    • improvements in the presentation of ancestry data to more accurately highlight the multi-response nature of the question;
    • additional tables have been added to the Expanded Community Profile to accommodate the need to simplify content in the Basic Community Profile; and
    • the inclusion of comparative data for Non-Indigenous people in the Indigenous Profile. This will only occur where it is possible to provide useful data within the constraints imposed by confidentiality requirements.

The proposed output formats and dissemination mechanisms lso attracted considerable comment. As a direct result of user preferences, Excel and Comma Separated Value formats have been adopted as standard electronic formats for the 2001 Community Profile Series. However, the option to obtain profile tables in other electronic formats will continue to be available, but at an additional cost to users. Hardcopy continues to be popular amongst many census data users and will not incur any additional cost above that for the standard electronic formats.

Early Release
For the 2001 Census, release of templates for the Community Profile Series has been achieved earlier than for any preceding census. The advantage of this early release is that users will have the opportunity to consider their data requirements over a longer period. They will be able to determine which data will be available free (e.g. Basic Community Profile data at Statistical Local Area level through www.abs.gov.au), what data is available as standard output and plan their requirements for customised tables if required.

Users are encouraged to take maximum advantage of the early release of the 2001 Census Community Profile Series templates in preparation for the release of 2001 Census data in mid-2002.

Currently, the Basic Community Profile, Time Series Profile and Expanded Community Profile templates can be accessed from the Census web site. When the templates for the Indigenous, Usual Residents and Working Population Profiles are finalised in the near future, they will also be included on the web site.