2900.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Understanding the Census and Census Data, Australia , 2016  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 08/11/2017  First Issue
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Year of Arrival in Australia (YARP, YARRP)

For people born overseas, this variable states the year they first arrived in Australia, with the intention of staying for at least one year. It is applicable to persons born overseas who will be in Australia for more than one year. The year 2016 refers to the period from 1st January 2016 to 9th August 2016 only.

How the variable is created

The variable Country of Birth of Person is the basis for determining if a person was born in Australia or overseas.

Country of Birth of Person uses the Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC), 2016 to classify country of birth. Australia is geographical Australia as defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

Data for this variable is captured automatically from written numeric responses, or the 'Will be in Australia less than one year' mark box. This process is subject to low levels of recognition error. High and low values are checked manually to ensure that they match the actual response on the form.

Variable history

A question on year of arrival in Australia, or length of residence, was first asked in the 1911 Census and has been asked in every census since then. The year ranges for Year of Arrival have been updated for the 2016 Census.

Non-response rate

Item non-response rates are a measure of how many people did not respond to a particular question as a proportion of the total number of people the question was applicable to. In this instance the response is left as not stated.

The majority of item non-response is attributable to the people who did not respond to the Census at all. Refer to item non-response rates for more information. The second and smaller contributor to item non-response is when people return a Census form but may not answer a particular question(s). For more information, refer to Understanding Census data quality.

The non-response rate for this variable was 3.5% (4.5% in 2011). Where an applicable person has not provided a year of arrival, but has marked the 'Will be in Australia less than one year' mark box, this response is set to not stated.

Data usage notes

The data includes persons who reported their birth year, current year or future year as their year of arrival, as all numeric responses are accepted as reported.

Further information

A definition of Year of Arrival in Australia is available in the 2016 Census Dictionary.
Data on Year of Arrival in Australia is also available in ranges Year of Arrival in Australia (ranges).
For related information, see data quality statement for Country of Birth of Person.

Household form question image

Question 13 as it appeared on the 2016 Census Household Paper Form:

Text: 2016 Household Paper Form - Question 13. In what year did the person first arrive in Australia to live here for one year or more?
A text only version of the online Census Household form is available from the Downloads tab.