4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2004  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/06/2004   
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MEDIA RELEASE

June 08, 2004
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
08/2004

Australian Social Trends to present a smorgasbord of stories
- for release next Tuesday
What:The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will release the eleventh edition of Australian Social Trends (cat. no. 4102.0) next Tuesday.

The publication contains new analysis of current ABS data, as well as non-ABS data, and is a source of a wide variety of stories on current and emerging issues of social interest. A full list and synopsis of the articles is attached.

Why:Australian Social Trends 2004 profiles Australian society and looks at changes in the nation's social conditions and wellbeing. The publication features around 30 articles.

The articles cover a range of topics related to population, family and community, health, education and training, work, economic resources, and housing; as well as a number of articles on specific areas such as environmental concerns and religious affiliation.

These provide an insight into the current nature of Australian society, and highlight changes over recent decades.

When:Tuesday June 15, 2004. Available after 11:30am.
How:A media release with some summary information will be widely distributed at 11.30am on June 15.

Web site: At the time of release, a complete version of the articles and other content from the publication will be available from the ABS web site at <www.abs.gov.au> - within the "Australia Now" section.

Canberra Press Gallery: the hardcopy publication will be boxed by request only. Please contact Rod Campbell <rod.campbell@abs.gov.au> by this Thursday (10 June) to request a copy.

Hardcopy publication available from ABS capital city offices by request only. The publication will also be available for collection after the 11.30am release from our State offices in each capital city, again by request. Please contact Rod Campbell <rod.campbell@abs.gov.au> by this Thursday (10 June) to request a copy.

Australian Social Trends 2004: List of Contents

Population Chapter

    Echoes of the baby boom - examines births data for the effects of the post war baby boom in the fertility patterns of later generations.

    Seachange: new residents in coastal areas - presents a case study based on a selection of fast-growing coastal areas.

    Where do overseas-born people live? - looks at overseas born population distribution across States, rural and urban Australia and within cities.

    Scenarios for Australia's ageing population - presents scenarios for Australia's future population structure using the latest population projections.


Family and Community Chapter

    Social interactions outside home - examines how levels of support outside the home, participation in sport and cultural activities, and feelings of safety varied according to people's characteristics.

    Support for people with a disability - summarises key information about people with disabilities and their informal and formal support.

    Families with no employed parent - presents characteristics of families, with children under 15 years, where there is no employed parent.

    Being unemployed, a lone parent or a recently arrived migrant - highlights the diverse social and economic circumstances they face.

    Formal child care - looks at children under 11 years in formal child care, changes in formal child care since the early 1990s, and parents' preferences for additional care.

Health Chapter


    Living with asthma - examines the prevalence of asthma and how people manage their asthma.

    Cancer trends - presents trends in the incidence of cancer, survival rates, and mortality, focusing on the National Health Priority Areas framework.

    How women protect their health - focuses on women having pap smears, mammograms and the prevalence of smoking and other risk behaviours among women.


Education and Training Chapter

    Paying for higher education - examines sources of university funding and characteristics of students based on their HECS-liability status.

    Higher education graduates in the labour force - looks at the differences in labour market outcomes for graduates and non graduates.

    Preschool - looks at four year old children who attend preschool and how attendance rates vary according to family characteristics.


Work Chapter

    Young people in employment - the experiences of 15–24 year olds such as combining work and study, plus two decades of change since 1983.

    Mature age workers - looks at the characteristics of mature age workers and their employment across industries and occupations.

    Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the labour force - labour force trends plus workers characteristics and their employment sector and distribution across Remoteness areas.

    Community service workers - the labour force characteristics of community service industries and the qualifications of their workers plus the volunteer workers contribution.

Economic resources Chapter


    Household assets, liabilities and financial stress indicators - explores the relationship between these factors and income.

    Household income - explores increases in income over six years from 1994–95 plus income distribution across households in different life cycle stages.

    Incomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians - looks at household income by level and distribution across Remoteness areas, plus individual income by industry and occupation groups.


Housing Chapter

    Homelessness - the number of homeless people, their use of supported accommodation services, and their situations before and after accessing these services.

    Home ownership - trends in home ownership, house prices and the relationship between the size of first home loans and average earnings.

    High rise living - compares socio-demographic characteristics of high rise residents to residents in separate houses, and looks at how the high rise residential population changed over the last two decades.

Other areas of social concern


    Overseas travel and recent world events - looks at the characteristics of people travelling to and from Australia as well as travel patterns in the months following recent world events.
      Environmental concerns and related activities - looks at people's changing level of environmental concern and household participation in the environmentally-friendly activities over ten years to 2001.

      Religious affiliation and activity - presents trends as reported in censuses since 1933, plus the relationship between religious affiliation, religious activity and unpaid voluntary work.

      Women in prison - presents trends in women's imprisonment and the characteristics of women prisoners.