COLLECTION METHODS

STANDARD QUESTION MODULE

The standard question modules for Year of Arrival in Australia are as follows:

Question 1 for both self enumerated and interview based collections
In which country [were you] [was the person] [was (name)] born?

	Australia	no more questions
	England
	New Zealand
	India
	Italy
	Vietnam
	Philippines
	South Africa
	Scotland
	Malaysia
	Other - please specify . . . . . . . . .

Sequence Guide
If response is Australia, then No More Questions.
If response is other than Australia, go to Q2.

Question 2 for self enumerated collections
In what year did [you] [the person] first arrive in Australia to live here for one year or more?

(Write in the calendar year of arrival or mark the box if here less than one year)

	Calendar year of arrival
	Will be here less than one year

Question 2 for interview based collections
In which year did [(name)] first arrive in Australia to live (for one year or more)?

	Calendar year

Question 3 for both self enumerated and interview based collections
Excluding holidays, visits or business trips overseas, [have you] [has the person] [has (name)] had any periods of living overseas for one year or more since first arriving here?

(If 'Yes', please list each absence from Australia of one or year or more and its duration in years and months).

	No
	Yes, First absence		. . . . . .years, . . . . . . months
	Yes, Second absence		. . . . . .years, . . . . . . months
	Yes, Third absence		. . . . . .years, . . . . . . months
	etc.

The recommended questions are suitable for self enumerated and interview based collections. For a majority of respondents not born in Australia, their answer to question two will be the date of their only arrival in Australia. For respondents with multiple arrivals in Australia, an instruction such as "Please indicate the year of first arrival only" should be included with question two in self enumerated collections.

For interview based collections, clear directions should be given by the interviewer so that the respondent understands the year of first arrival is to be reported. The words "to live" imply the intention to make one’s home in Australia and then "(for one year or more)" is bracketed and need only be asked if respondents query the meaning of "to live".

In collections where the focus is only on Year of Arrival in Australia, questions one and two are sufficient. However, if Period of Residence in Australia is collected, question three should be asked in addition to questions one and two. This improves the accuracy of Period of Residence in Australia data by collecting all significant absences since first arrival.

Each question module may be accompanied by a brief explanatory note giving detailed instructions about how to answer the Year of Arrival question. The explanatory note can be included with the chosen question module or in supplementary documentation. The explanatory note is in Appendix A.

STANDARD INPUT CATEGORIES

Input categories for Year of Arrival in Australia are four digit calendar years (e.g.1937).

Input categories for Period of Residence in Australia are the two digit numbers of elapsed whole years of living in Australia. In general, they are derived by taking the difference between the year of collection and the year of first arrival. Where the person has lived outside of Australia after first arriving here, Period of Residence in Australia is calculated by deducting from the above difference, the number of years of significant absences from Australia reported by the respondent.

Supplementary categories are also included. For Year of Arrival in Australia, the supplementary codes 'Born in Australia' ('0000') and 'Not stated/Inadequately described' ('9999') are used. For Period of Residence in Australia, the supplementary codes 'Born in Australia' ('98') and 'Not stated/Inadequately described' ('99') are used.