Main type of household government benefit payment (administrative data) (HGAD)

This variable indicates the main type of government benefit payment that a household received. This is based on all government benefits, pensions, and allowances recorded in administrative data for the 2020/2021 financial year of residents aged 15 years or older who were present in the household on Census Night. 

This variable wasn’t derived from data collected on the Census form but has been created by linking administrative data from the Person Level Integrated Data (PLIDA) data asset to the Census. 

Occupied private dwellings

This variable wasn’t derived from data collected directly on the Census form but has been created by linking administrative data from the Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) to the Census. The PLIDA data asset contains data on government benefits, pensions, and allowances from the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Social Services, this is the source data for this variable. 

This variable is calculated based on all government benefits, pensions, and allowances recorded in administrative data for the 2020/2021 financial year of residents aged 15 years or older who were present in the household on Census Night. This includes households where one or more residents did not have income information available in administrative data or where one or more residents were absent from the dwelling on Census Night. 

The main type of government benefit payment is the category with the largest amount recorded. This variable does not record the dollar amount of government benefits, pensions, and allowances received; it records what the main benefit type is. 

All payments recorded in the administrative data are included, however some government benefit payments have been excluded from this variable as they are deemed not to represent income. The excluded payments are: 

• Rent Assistance 
• Fares Allowance 
• HECS or Course Fees 
• Student Start-up Loan 
• Home Equity Access Scheme / Pension Loans Scheme 
• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card 

This is a new variable for 2021.

This variable provides an alternative, more detailed view on income than income data collected in the Census. It is based on government benefit, pension and allowance information recorded in linked administrative data, and is not data collected from a Census question. 

• Main type of personal government benefit payment (administrative data) (IGAP)
• Total household income as available (administrative data) (weekly) (HIAASD)
• Main type of family government benefit payment (administrative data) (FGAF)
• Main source of household income (administrative data) (HSAD)
• Administrative data
• Government benefits, pensions and allowances
• Household

• Understanding income in administrative data, the Census and ABS surveys
• New Census insights on income in Australia using administrative data
• Housing