Review of 2021 Census Topics

Response 928379573

Back to Response listing

What is your submission about?

Please provide a brief summary of your submission

Topic name
Council considers that there is:
A need to extend mode of travel (journey to) questions to mode of travel to education (study) and mode of travel after hours/other
Council uses the mode of travel information for critical transport planning.
We note that restricting the information gathered to work trips tells us only part of the story of travel/mobility generally.
We know that casualization of work and increasing engagement in education mean that people’s travel purposes at any point in time are more mixed now than previously. If the purpose of the journey to work information is to determine which method of travel is predominantly used at the traditionally busy ‘peak hours’, Council’s argument would be that this reasoning is less valid in a current environment where fewer people engage in the traditional 9 to 5. Our roads and public transport networks are used for different purposes at different times and we would argue that it makes sense to collect information from across the main purposes rather than just one. The information gathered would be more useful, particularly for organisations such as Council which have a role in planning for, and managing, transport infrastructure
Council also considers that for future questions on mode of travel ‘walking’ should be included as an option for people to select. At the moment ‘walking only’ is an option. We should allow people to select walking as part of their journey.

Choose your area of interest

Please select one item
(Required)
Population
Sex and gender
Households and families
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Income and work
Unpaid work and care
Education and training
Disability and carers
Housing
Location
Ticked Transport
Cultural diversity
Religion
Other topic

Assessment Criteria 1

1. This topic is of current national importance.

National Importance
Council suggests that mode of travel is of national importance particularly when considering the role that our major cities are adopting, attracting high population growth where pressure for appropriate management of travel routes is high

Assessment Criteria 2

2. There is a need for data from a Census of the whole population.

For whole population
As noted, Council highly values the local area travel to work information provided by the Census

Assessment Criteria 3

3. The topic can be accurately collected in a form which the household completes themselves.

Easy to answer
Council does not anticipate collection concerns

Assessment Criteria 4

4. The topic would be acceptable to Census respondents.

Acceptable
Council does not anticipate acceptability concerns

Assessment Criteria 5

5. The topic can be collected efficiently.

Collected efficiently
Extending journey information to study at a minimum will add additional questions to the Census form. Council considers that the information arising from additional will justify the additional cost.

Assessment Criteria 6

6. There is likely to be a continuing need for data on this topic in the following Census.

Continuing need
As noted, commute information is critical for future planning particularly for urban areas – we consider that there is a definite need for continuing data on this topic.

Assessment Criteria 7

7. There are no other alternative data sources or solutions that could meet the topic need.

No alternatives
Council sources information from providers such as VicRoads, and is considering the installation of local sensor technology. Neither source provides with the behaviour information we can source from the Census. Other studies do not include local area specific information