GENERAL SOCIAL SURVEY
In 2010, 20% of adults living in Australia were born in non-English speaking countries. Of these, 2.8 million people (83%) considered they spoke English either well or very well. These are just some of the findings published in the latest General Social Survey released on the 30 September 2011.
The General Social Survey (GSS) is a multidimensional social survey providing information on a wide range of key areas of concern for Australians. It helps to build a picture of the social characteristics of the population and allows for better understanding of the relationships between different aspects of life and how these affect people, including the exploration of multiple advantage and disadvantage.
The 2010 GSS builds on the previous surveys conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2002 and 2006. It includes additional information on emerging or important topics of social concern, new topics relating to social inclusion, such as experience of homelessness, financial resilience and exclusion. Data was also collected (at the person level) on 'Cultural Diversity' and 'Acceptance of different cultures' which may be of interest to users. In addition, 'Discrimination because of ethnic or cultural background' data was collected in relation to number of topics including: access to education, personal stressors, and involvement in social, civic or community groups.
Currently work is underway producing new tables covering these new data items, as well as updating existing tables with the 2010 data. We anticipate publishing these tables in the next Migrant Data Matrices release, which is scheduled for 29 November 2011.
In the meantime, migrant data has also been published as part of the General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 4159.0). The publication and Population Context page provide summaries on topics such as 'Country of Birth,' 'Language,' and 'Visa status.' In addition, the Downloads tab provides a number of Data Cubes containing migrant data, in particular:
- Table 12: Personal characteristics, by country of birth and proficiency in spoken English
- Table 26: Community involvement, by remoteness areas and country of birth
- Table 34: Social involvement, by country of birth and proficiency in spoken English
- Table 44: Visa category, by selected demographic and personal characteristics
Refer the
General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 4159.0) for more information on the survey. For the list of topics included in the 2010 GSS refer to the
Explanatory Notes.
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