A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Welcome to the April 2012 edition of the Migrant Statistics News brought to you from the National Migrant Statistics Unit (NMSU).
In 2012 the NMSU will continue to focus on ensuring that the necessary migrant related data to inform public and policy debate are readily available, timely and of the highest possible quality.
The fifth edition of the Migrant Data Matrices (cat. no 3415.0) is well underway and is due to be released later in July. The matrices are intended to serve as a 'one stop shop' providing migrant and ethnicity related data from a range of ABS collections on a broad selection of topics. You may be interested that the fourth edition, released last November, included migrant data from a number of recently released collections including Causes of Death (2009), Crime Victimisation (2008–09 and 2009–10), Disability, Ageing and Carers (2009), Income and Housing and Household Expenditure Survey (2009–10) and the National Health Survey (2007–08).
Readers should be on the lookout for the first release of results from the 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Results will be released on 21 June with the second release of data, covering those data items that required more extensive processing, occurring on 30 October. Census users will see a new version of QuickStats which will provide information on people, families and dwellings according to different levels of geography. Information will be presented as commentary, tables and graphs. Other products such as the Community Profiles, Time Series Profiles and the new TableBuilder, a replacement for the old CData Online, will also be made available.
As flagged in our last newsletter, the NMSU have commenced work on the 2011 version of the Census Data Enhancement project using the Census and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's (DIAC's) Settlement Database data. After months of preparation work to significantly improve the quality of the linkages, we are anticipating moving into a very busy, intense, but exciting phase of the project when linkage between data sets commences.
For those interested in this work and wanting to reacquaint themselves with the project I suggest taking another look at the paper, Assessing the Quality of Linking Migrant Settlement Records to Census Data (cat. no. 1351.0.55.027) that looked at the results of the 2006 Migrants Quality Study. In addition, the NMSU released two articles through the Perspectives on Migrants (cat. no. 3416.0) series back in June 2010 which utilised this information and presented experimental estimates relating to Humanitarian Program migrants and the economic outcomes of Skilled Program migrants.
Continuing the theme of Census related activities the ABS is undertaking a review of the Ancestry standard in coming months. The aim of the review will be to ensure that the standard remains relevant and appropriately reflects Australia's culturally diverse society. Details on how to contribute to the review are provided in this newsletter.
You may recall that the Characteristics of Recent Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0) publication and associated data cubes were released in June 2011 and that the Expanded Confidentialised Unit Record File (CURF) was released shortly afterward. The Characteristics of Recent Migrants survey presents data on migration category (or main visa group), country of birth, proficiency in spoken English, educational attainment on arrival and since arrival, employment prior to arrival and since arrival, and sources of household income. Since our last newsletter we have released an article, Characteristics of Migrants, as part of our Perspectives on Migrants (cat. no. 3416.0) series.
We are pleased to announce that our ABS Topics @ a Glance page on the website for Migrant and Ethnicity now has a new look. The format has changed so that, hopefully, it will be easier for you to locate information. We would appreciate your feedback and any suggestions that you might have.
The ABS is currently in the development phase for the next version of Measures of Australia's Progress (cat. no. 1370.0.55.001) or MAP 2.0. MAP provides a digestible selection of statistical evidence in answer to this question. Australians can use this evidence to form their own view of how our country is progressing. The range of key statistical measures that MAP presents demonstrate change that are grouped under three broad headings: the society, the economy and the environment. Through the review the ABS is gathering the views of government and the community so that MAP can remain relevant and ensure that it continues to provide the right measures Australia's progress.
As always, I hope you find this newsletter both informative and interesting. If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about the work of the National Migrant Statistics Unit please feel free to contact us.
All the best
Andrew Middleton
Director
Culture, Recreation and Migrant Statistics
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