2021 Census product release guide

The Census provides a valuable snapshot of information about Australians that reflects our community at the time the Census was undertaken. The most recent Census of Population and Housing was conducted on 10 August 2021. For more information see About the 2021 Census. 

Once released, Census data can be accessed using a number of Census data tools. We have outlined below which data you can access through QuickStats, Community Profiles, Census TableBuilder, DataPacks and GeoPackages and when the data will be available in each. 

If you would like more information about these tools or how to access Census data, please visit Which data tool is best for you? or see Census data tools and products. 

Census data can also be accessed through API's and DataLab. More information on these tools can be found in Compare data services. 

QuickStats are a simple way to understand an area at a glance. They provide a summary of an area including demographics and tables on key characteristics of the people living in the area, their families, and their dwellings.

There are three types of QuickStats: All persons, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and Country of Birth.

Expand the sections below to see what data will be available in QuickStats. 

Community Profiles are tools for researching, planning, and analysing geographic areas for a number of social, economic and demographic characteristics. Community Profiles provide a comprehensive statistical picture of an area in Excel spreadsheets, delivering data relating to people, families, and dwellings.

There are four types of Community profiles: General community profile, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples profile, Time series profile, and the Working population profile. 

Community Profile templates will be available to download here.  

Expand the sections below to see what data will be available in Community Profiles. 

Census TableBuilder allows you to build and customise tables to your own specifications. For more information, see TableBuilder. 

The Census TableBuilder data item list will be available to download here.

DataPacks contain comprehensive data about people, families and dwellings for all Census geographies ranging from Australia down to Statistical Area Level 1. They are containers of data based on Census Community Profiles and include digital boundary files, metadata and reference documents to enable you to read the data.

DataPacks are suitable for experienced Census data users who have their own databases or analysis systems. 

The data provided in DataPacks is based on the four Community Profiles with the addition of the Place of enumeration profile, and is available at more levels of geography. 

DataPacks templates will be available to download here.

To see what data will be available in the DataPacks based on the general community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Time series and Working population profiles, see the Community Profiles section above.

For information on the Place of enumeration profile and the available geographies for DataPacks, expand the sections below. 

GeoPackages contain comprehensive data about people, families and dwellings for Census geographical areas ranging from Statistical Areas Level 1 to the whole of Australia. GeoPackages are Census data linked to geographical boundary data from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) in a database container.

GeoPackages are suitable for experienced Census data users who want Community Profile data for numerous locations and have their own databases / Geographic Information System (GIS) software. GeoPackages do not include software.

GeoPackages are based on the General community profile. To see what data will be available in GeoPackages, see the Community Profiles section above.

For information on the geographies available for GeoPackages, expand the section below. 

Census data will also be released in several other tools. These tools are outlined below with the 2021 Census data availability.

Data Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable fast access to ABS statistics by using machine to machine 'API calls'. These calls return statistics in a machine friendly format so that you can integrate data into your own systems as they are released. APIs will be available for first data release.

Stories and visualisations that relate to Census data on topics of interest. These stories can be found under the ‘Census data by topic’ tile. Spreadsheets containing summary data on the topics are also included. These stories will be progressively released from 28 June 2022.  

Mesh blocks are identified with a unique 11 digit code and are the smallest geographical unit (in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard) for which Census data is output. These datasets contain counts of the total usual resident population and the total dwelling count from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. 2021 Census Mesh block counts will be released with first data release in 2022.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. The indexes are based on information from the five-yearly Census. 2021 Census data will be available from third data release in 2023.

Basic and Detailed microdata files contain a small random sample of unidentified private households, associated persons, and a small random sample of persons in non-private dwellings. 2021 Census data will be available from third data release in 2023.

The ABS will release the 2021 Census Estimates of Homelessness in early to mid-2023.