AVAILABILITY
This section describes the latest ABS collections for housing statistics and outlines the information that is available.
Survey of Income and Housing
The Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) collects detailed information on income, housing and characteristics of individuals, income units and households from a sample of private dwellings throughout Australia. Extensive data on current housing costs are provided by the SIH. The SIH was run continuously from 1994-95 to 1997-98, and then in 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06. 2007-08 and 2009-10. The survey is now conducted every 2 years, with additional housing detail collected every 6 years. More information on the SIH is included in the Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide Australia, 2009-10.
Information from the SIH is disseminated in publications and as Confidentialised Unit Record Files. Customised tables can also be produced to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service.
The Household Expenditure Survey and Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide Australia, 2009-10. was released in September 2011. The user guide focuses predominately on concepts, definitions and survey methodology, however references are also made to changes from previous surveys. It also provides a list of all data items available from the survey and a copy of the survey questionnaire.
Census of Population and Housing
The Census of Population and Housing is conducted every five years and collects a range of demographic, social and economic information from all people and dwellings (excluding diplomatic personnel and dwellings) in Australia on census night. It measures the number of people in Australia on Census night, their key characteristics, and the dwellings in which they live. More information is available on the Census web page.
The most recent Census was conducted on 9 August 2011, with the first results released in June 2012, available through a range of electronic products. Second release data will be released in October 2012. More information is available on the Census web page.
The 2011 Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0) is a comprehensive reference guide designed to assist users of 2011 Census data to determine and specify their data requirements and to understand the concepts underlying the data.
House Price Index
The House Price Index (HPI) is a series of price indexes measuring changes in prices of both established houses and new (project) houses for each of the eight capital cities of Australia and also a weighted average of the eight cities for both. The HPI is published quarterly in House Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6416.0). Data are available back to 1989, but not on a consistent basis.
House Price Indexes: Concepts, Sources and Methods (cat. no. 6464.0) includes discussion of some general issues relating to the measurement of house prices and provides background on the stratification method used to control for the effect of changes in the composition and number of houses sold within each city. The publication also includes information on how to use price indexes and provides an overview of other data series and price indexes related to housing which are produced by the ABS and published with the HPI.
Housing Finance for Owner Occupation
Housing Finance for Owner Occupation is a monthly collection of Housing Finance commitments by Australian-resident lending institutions for the construction or purchase of owner-occupied dwellings. Commitments of finance for the purchase of land, or for the construction and purchase of dwellings for rental or resale are excluded from this collection as they are considered to be personal and commercial finance activity respectively. More information is available in the Directory of Statistical Sources.
The collection results are released monthly in Housing Finance, Australia (cat. no. 5609.0) and Lending Finance, Australia (cat. no. 5671.0). Customised Information Consultancies can also be produced on request to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service.
Building Approvals
The monthly Building Approvals collection obtains data relating to residential and non-residential building work, above certain value limits, that has been approved within the reference month. Data from this collection provides timely estimates of future building activity and is an important leading economic indicator. It also provides the sampling framework for the quarterly Building Activity Survey, which is a major contributor to the quarterly National Accounts estimates. More information is available in the Directory of Statistical Sources and the ABS Building and Construction Topics @ a Glance page.
The collection results are released monthly in Building Approvals, Australia (cat. no. 8731.0). More detailed estimates can also be produced on request to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey
| This 2008 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS) was conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from August 2008 to April 2009, collecting information from approximately 13,300 Indigenous Australians living in private dwellings in remote and non-remote areas, including discrete communities. The 2008 NATSISS provides information on a range of demographic, social, environmental and economic indicators. Topics include language and culture, social networks and support, health, education, work, housing and financial stress. Detailed results for these and other topics from the survey, including additional data cubes are available on the ABS website. |
General Social Survey
The General Social Survey (GSS) is a multi-dimensional social survey that collects information about personal and household characteristics for people aged 18 years and over resident in private dwelling. The survey collected information about personal and household characteristics for people aged 18 years and over resident in private dwellings, throughout not very remote areas of Australia, from August to November 2010. The collection results are released as a publication as well as Data Cubes, topics include Housing mobility and Homelessness.
Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey
The Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey (CHINS) collects information about community housing and infrastructure from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Indigenous Housing Organisations (IHOs). The survey was initially conducted in 1999 and has been run again in 2001 and 2006. More information about CHINS is available in the Directory of Statistical Sources and the ABS Indigenous theme page.
Collection results are released in Housing and Infrastructure in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, Australia (cat. no. 4710.0), with the 2006 issue incorporating selected results from the 1999 and 2001 CHINS, as well as maps showing the distribution of indigenous housing organisations and discrete communities across Australia.
Australian Housing Survey
The most recent Australian Housing Survey (AHS) was conducted between September and December 1999 as a user funded survey to report on the housing circumstances of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Commencing with 2007-08, every six years the ABS household survey program now includes an expanded housing module in the Survey of Income and Housing (SIH) to report the housing circumstances of non-Indigenous Australians. This expanded SIH module is run in the same year as the ABS National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey which reports the housing circumstances of Indigenous Australians. Some housing data also continues to be collected every 2 years in the SIH to complement the housing information collected in the Census and in several ABS household surveys.
In addition to information on the physical characteristics and condition of dwellings, emphasis was given in the 1999 AHS to the costs, affordability and adequacy of housing. Previous surveys covering similar material were known as National Housing Surveys, and were conducted in 1988 and 1994. These surveys collected information on mobility and housing, dwelling characteristics, tenure type (owner without a mortgage, owner with a mortgage, life tenure scheme, participants of rent/buy (shared equity) scheme, renter and rent free), and housing costs, and in 1988, details of other residential property owned by the household.
An important component of the 1999 AHS related to the approach to collecting a supplementary sample for Indigenous persons to enable more detailed Indigenous statistics to be compiled.
More information on the AHS is included in the Directory of Statistical Sources.
The data items available from the 1999 AHS are included in the Data Reference Package (cat. no. 4182.0.00.001). Information from the AHS is available in publications, spreadsheets and as a Confidentialised Unit Record File. Customised tables can also be produced on request to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service.
Rental Investors Survey
The Rental Investors Survey (RIN) was conducted in 1997 (and in 1993 as the Investors in Rental Dwellings Survey). It collected information on the demographic characteristics and economic resources of people who invest in residential rental property in Australia, and the physical characteristics of their most recently acquired properties.
More information on the RIN is included in the Directory of Statistical Sources.
Information from the RIN is available in a publication and as a Confidentialised Unit Record File. Customised tables can also be produced on request to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service.
Rental Tenants Survey
The Rental Tenants Survey was a one-off collection that obtained information on the demographic and financial characteristics of people living in rental dwellings in Australia. It provided an indication of tenants housing history (for the five year period prior to April 1994) and the characteristics of the dwellings they occupied. The survey also provided insight into the rental dwelling market and the stock of rental housing.
More information on the Rental Tenants Survey is included in the Directory of Statistical Sources.
Information from the Rental Tenants Survey is available in a publication and as a Confidentialised Unit Record File. Customised tables can also be produced on request to meet individual user needs (standard consultancy rates are charged). For further information, contact the National Information and Referral Service. | 
