2901.0 - Census of Population and Housing: Census Dictionary, 2016  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/08/2016   
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2016 Census Dictionary >> Glossary >> Housing Suitability (HOSD)

Housing Suitability (HOSD)

This is a new derived item for 2016. It is a housing utilisation measure based upon a comparison of the number of bedrooms in a dwelling together with a series of household demographics such as the number of usual residents, their relationship to one another, their age and sex. There is no single standard measure for housing suitability. However, the Canadian National Occupancy Standard (CNOS) is widely used in Australia and internationally. The HOSD variable is based on this standard.

The CNOS for housing appropriateness is sensitive to both household size and composition. The measure assesses the bedroom requirements of a household by specifying that:

    • there should be no more than two persons per bedroom
    • children less than five years of age of different sexes may reasonably share a bedroom
    • children less than 18 years of age and of the same sex may reasonably share a bedroom
    • single household members 18 years and over should have a separate bedroom, as should parents or couples and
    • a lone person household may reasonably occupy a bed sitter.

The HOSD variable compares the number of bedrooms required with the actual number of bedrooms in the dwelling. It can be used to analyse the under or over utilisation of dwellings and the dwelling's suitability for the resident household.





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