2.2 Census of Population and Housing, 2021
2.2.1 Derive income
All Census 2021 admin income estimates sourced from ITR and ATO Superannuation data refer to the 2019-20 financial year. Estimates are adjusted to 2020-21 dollars using changes in the Consumer Price Index. This reflects changes in purchasing power and living standards between these periods. Data from 2019-20 was used as the only alternative, waiting for more recent data (available approximately 18 months after the reference period) limits the timeliness of results produced. Previous financial year data, likely to be the latest data available in future applications, is used to demonstrate the quality attributes of timelier results.
DOMINO and STP items reference data from the 2020-21 financial year, or the period following the end of the previous financial year to the reference date.
2.2.1.1 Employee income
Annual estimates of employee income use STP_EMP_ANN.
Current employee income estimates are derived differently for current government pension and allowance recipients (indicated by DOM_GOV_CUR>0) compared to non-recipients (DOM_GOV_CUR=0). This is due to the underlying variability in employee income for government pension and allowance recipients.
For recipients of a government pension or allowance, STP_EMP_CUR_1M is used preferentially. If not available, then the preferences (in decreasing order) are STP_EMP_CUR_3M, followed by STP_EMP_CUR_6M and STP_EMP_12M.
People who did not receive a current government pension or allowance receive STP_EMP_12M as their current employee income.
2.2.1.2 Own unincorporated business income
Annual own unincorporated business income is ITR_UBUS_ANN. Current own unincorporated business is ITR_UBUS_CUR.
2.2.1.3 Government pensions and allowances
Annual government pensions and allowances use DOM_GOV_ANN if available, otherwise ITR_GOV_ANN is used. Similarly, current government pensions and allowances use DOM_GOV_CUR if available, then ITR_GOV_CUR.
2.2.1.4 Investment income
Annual investment income is ITR_INV_ANN. Current investment income is ITR_INV_CUR.
2.2.1.5 Superannuation pensions and annuities
Annual superannuation pensions and annuities use ITR_SUP_ANN if available. If this is not available SAE_SUP_ANN is used. Similarly, current superannuation uses ITR_SUP_CUR if available, then SAE_SUP_CUR.
2.2.1.6 Other regular transfers
Annual other regular transfers income is ITR_OTH_ANN. Current other regular transfers income is ITR_OTH_CUR.
2.2.1.7 Total income
For each person, their estimate of total annual income is calculated by summing all annual estimates for the admin income type. Similarly, a person’s total current income is the sum of all current income estimates across income types.
2.2.1.8 Summary
The admin items selected in this section are summarised in the table below in preferential order.
| Income type | Current income | Annual income |
|---|---|---|
| Employee income | Government pension and allowance recipients(a): STP_EMP_CUR_1M, STP_EMP_CUR_3M, STP_EMP_CUR_6M, STP_EMP_CUR_12M Non recipients: STP_EMP_CUR_12M | STP_EMP_ANN |
| Own unincorporated business income | ITR_UBUS_CUR | ITR_UBUS_ANN |
| Government pensions and allowances | DOM_GOV_CUR, ITR_GOV_CUR | DOM_GOV_ANN, ITR_GOV_ANN |
| Investment income | ITR_INV_CUR | ITR_INV_ANN |
| Superannuation income | ITR_SUP_CUR, SAE_SUP_CUR | ITR_SUP_ANN, SAE_SUP_ANN |
| Other regular transfers | ITR_OTH_CUR | ITR_OTH_ANN |
(a) Where DOM_GOV_CUR is more than $0.
2.2.2 Prepare household-level estimates
Household income values are prepared by summing total income estimates using Census household structures.
2.2.3 Apply quality edits
The dataset is reviewed and edited to resolve any detected logical inconsistencies. For example, specific age checks were applied to recipients of Youth Allowance and Age Pension amounts to ensure that amounts were not allocated to people not eligible for these payments.