INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
In August 2005 following extensive consultation and discussion, the Australian Statistician announced his intention to proceed with the Census Data Enhancement (CDE) project. The project was first undertaken for the 2006 Census, and has continued on for the 2011 Census. This paper presents outcomes from the 2011 CDE project.
OBJECTIVES
The overarching objective of the Census Data Enhancement (CDE) project is to enhance the relevance and potential of ABS Census data and other official datasets. The project aims to create new data sources for statistical, policy and research purposes, by bringing together existing data from the Census of Population and Housing with other data sources. A key aim of the project is to link Census data over time. This was achieved in 2013 with the release of the Australian Census Longitudinal Dataset (formerly referred to as the Statistical Longitudinal Census Dataset).
As well as these objectives, the CDE project also benefits the public by providing:
- an improved and expanded range of official statistics;
- a cost-effective and efficient way of leveraging existing data to meet current and emerging information requirements, without increasing respondent load; and
- the opportunity to support policy development, research and discussion more effectively in areas such as societal well-being, economic resources, education and health.
AUTHORITY
The CDE project is consistent with the legislated function of the ABS to maximise the use, for statistical purposes, of information available to official bodies.
The ABS Data Integration program, including the CDE project, accords with ABS legislated functions to:
- collect, compile, analyse and disseminate statistics and related information;
- avoid duplication of collection by official bodies, of information for statistical purposes; and
- achieve maximum possible utilisation, for statistical purposes, of information available to official bodies.
To respect the privacy of individuals and to protect the confidentiality of their data, the ABS operates under the
Census and Statistics Act 1905 and complies with
the
Privacy Act 1988.
The use and release of data from the CDE project is governed by the provisions outlined under both these Acts. As an accredited Integrating Authority, the ABS also abides by the High Level Principles for Data Integration Involving Commonwealth Data for Statistical and Research Purposes.
Further information about
Statistical Data Integration can be found via the ABS website.