Household Special Social Surveys Collection Notice

Your personal information is being collected by the ABS for statistical purposes. The Census and Statistics Act 1905 provides the authority to collect your personal information. 

The ABS collects personal information through surveys, which you can do online, over the phone, or with an interviewer in-person. For any personal visits our interviewers will always identify themselves, and show you their official ABS photo identification. They will clearly explain the information they are seeking and how we will use your data.

If you are completing your survey online, the ABS will also collect your personal information when you create an online account.

In the ABS’ household special social surveys program, the ABS will either:

• collect your personal information directly from you, or
• collect your personal information from another member of your household, known as your household representative.

Some of our household surveys begin with questions where you will need to choose someone to be your household representative. We may ask the household representative to:

• answer questions about all the people in your household
• provide contact information for persons aged 15 years or over in your household. 

If it is not appropriate or suitable to choose a household representative, please call us on the 1800 number provided with your survey, or contact us using one of the channels listed on our contact us page for other participation options.

When we contact you, we will provide further information specific to your survey.

For the ABS’ household special social surveys program, we may collect the following personal information including, but not limited to:

• contact details (e.g., name, address, home and/or mobile phone number, email address)
• demographics and personal characteristics (e.g., age, sex, gender, location, country of birth, year of arrival, marital status)
• household composition (e.g., who lives in the household, relationship with other household members)
• education and employment (e.g., occupation, education level)
• financial details (e.g., income and expenses)
• racial or ethnic information
• health and disability information (e.g., long-term health conditions, physical and mental health, and biometrics)
• religious beliefs and affiliations
• sexual orientation or practices
• criminal record
• trade union membership or associations
• political opinions or associations.

We may also collect sensitive information as defined by the Privacy Act 1988. This includes, but is not limited to:

• racial or ethnic information
• health and disability information (e.g., long-term health conditions, physical and mental health, and biometrics)
• religious beliefs and affiliations
• sexual orientation or practices
• criminal record
• trade union membership or associations
• political opinions or associations.

Our household special social surveys program also collects opinions, attitudes and information on topics such as health and wellbeing, life satisfaction, and lived experiences (e.g., crime victimisation). 

The type of personal and other information the ABS collects will depend on the survey you are participating in. You can find more details about your specific survey in the information pack we sent you.  

The ABS collects personal information to produce statistics from surveys. Statistics from ABS surveys help provide governments, businesses and communities with the information they need to inform important decisions on a wide range of economic, social, population and environmental matters.

The ABS also collects personal information to help us run our surveys. This includes using your contact details to stay in touch with you during data collection and to improve our business practices. We may use mail, email, phone and SMS to inform, remind and follow up on your survey participation. We may also collect personal information to inform improvements to normal business practices, such as how we manage and operate our surveys.

Data integration

The ABS wants to make the best use of data and statistics. One way to do this is by combining data from different sources together, which is known as data integration. Data integration supports researchers and the government to better understand Australian families, communities, industry and the economy. This can help improve government services like health, infrastructure, housing and other community services.

By reusing data, we can ask for less information from surveys, saving you time, and using public money better.

Data integration protects your privacy by removing personal information before any data analysis.  This way, we do not use your personal information in a way that can identify you. You can learn more about data integration by visiting our Data Integration page or the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA). 

DATA Scheme

The ABS may share information it collects as part of the DATA Scheme, established by the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022. The ABS will only share personal information through the DATA Scheme with the written approval of the Australian Statistician.

Only accredited entities can access information shared through the DATA Scheme, and in line with the Privacy Act 1988, personal information remains protected at all times. The DATA Scheme will only share information for permitted purposes and will not share data for either national security or enforcement-related purposes.

Consistent with the Census and Statistics Act 1905, the ABS, and any other accredited entity we work with as part of a project under the DATA Scheme, will never publicly release information in a manner likely to enable the identification of any individual. 

Requesting ABS data under the Data Availability and Transparency Act (DATA) Scheme provides more information about ABS participation in the DATA Scheme.

The ABS takes the security of the information you give us very seriously.

The ABS separates identifiable information, such as names and contact details, from other information as soon as possible. The identifiable information is then stored securely and separately.

All ABS employees have signed a legally enforceable ‘Undertaking of Fidelity and Secrecy’ agreement in which they must keep any information, including personal information, which they may deal with in the course of their work, private and confidential. This agreement applies to ABS employees for the rest of their lives, even if they leave the ABS. The penalty for breaching this is two years imprisonment, a fine, or both. You can find the other ways we keep your information safe on our Privacy, security and confidentiality page.

 The ABS complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you believe the ABS has acted against these principles, you can find information on how to lodge a complaint on the ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information page.

All retained personal information is stored in secure data centres located within Australia.  We have privacy policies for Statistical Information and Managing and Operating Our Business, and webpages on Privacy, security and confidentiality, which provide further information about how the ABS manages and protects your personal information. 

We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Archives Act 1983 in the storage, use, and destruction of your personal information.

For all personal information collected for household special social surveys, the ABS:

• may provide approved researchers in Australia or overseas access to information in a safe way that is unlikely to allow them to identify you   
• may share information with DATA Scheme Accredited Data Service Providers, who help provide Accredited Users access to information that does not identify you. 

The ABS will not:

• share your information with private organisations for the purposes of direct marketing
• share your information with other government agencies for compliance or regulation activities.

The questions included in our surveys are being asked under the authority of the  Census and Statistics Act 1905. Under the Act, you are obliged to provide the information we request, unless otherwise stated. 

For our compulsory surveys, if you do not complete and submit your survey questionnaire, the ABS may direct you in writing to complete the survey. This is a legal direction. 

Failure to comply with a Notice of Direction is an offence under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and can result in prosecution and fines for each day you don't participate. It is also a finable offence to provide false or misleading statements or information. 

For any enquiries about accessing or correcting personal information provided in relation to an ABS survey, please refer to the contact details for the survey that you’re participating in, or contact us using one of the channels listed on our Contact us page.

The Contact us page and ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information has information about how you can make a complaint if you feel we have not adequately protected your privacy. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response.