In what year did the person first arrive in Australia to live for one year or more?
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Description
This image shows a question from the 2026 Census online form. This question asks: In what year did Person 1 first arrive in Australia to live for one year or more?
Underneath the instructional text, is a clickable More Information header. Once clicked, the More Information is shown, and states: This question asks overseas-born people to provide the calendar year when they first arrived in Australia with the intention of staying for at least one year. Please enter the year of first arrival in Australia and not the year of the most recent arrival.
There are two response options. The first option is: Year, followed by a numeric free text field. The second option is a checkbox accompanied by the text: Will be in Australia for less than one year.
How this variable is created
The country of birth of person (BPLP) variable identifies whether an individual was born in Australia or overseas. People born overseas are then asked the year of arrival question.
Information for this variable is coded automatically from the year provided, or from the mark box indicating ‘Will be in Australia less than one year.’ High or low responses are manually reviewed to ensure they match what was provided on the form. A further check confirms that the person’s stated age is compatible with their reported period of residence.
Coding rules are as follows:
Respondents who usually live in another country are coded as ‘Overseas visitor’.
Respondents who were born overseas and usually live in Australia but will be in Australia for less than one year, are coded as ‘Not stated’.
Respondents who were born in Australia are coded as ‘Not applicable’.
History and changes
A question on year of arrival or time lived in Australia has been included in every Census since 1911.
From 2001 onward, the data has been collected for individual years and subsequently grouped into ranges for this variable. Response category ranges are updated each Census cycle.
For the 2026 Census, the output categories have been revised to improve the usefulness of the data. Earlier categories have been combined into ‘Arrived prior to 1971’, while the most recent category has been expanded from a single year to cover the five years prior to the Census. All other categories continue to represent decade-based groupings.
