Review of 2021 Census Topics - Australian Bureau of Statistics

Response 292451377

What is your submission about?

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In addition to collecting place of usual residence and place of work, it would be useful to collect 'place of location' at a certain time on census day. For example, where were you at 10AM on Census day? This would provide Govt with an invaluable centralised information source to inform transport planning. While the work location is useful for the 11m of so people employed, this question would help capture the other half of the population who are at home, or who travelled to other locations.

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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

Transport

Cultural diversity

Religion

Topics on Transport

Choose one or more of the following topics that relates to your submission

Please select all that apply

Mode of travel to work

Name and address of workplace attended

Number of motor vehicles

Other/unknown

Assessment Criteria 1

1. This topic is of current national importance.

This would provide Govt with an invaluable centralised information source to inform transport planning across Australia. While the work location is useful for the 11m of so people employed, this question would help capture the other half of the population who are at home, or who travelled to other locations.

Assessment Criteria 2

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

It would be very useful to combine this with place of residence and place of work.

It would be very valuable for smaller regions without currently established transport infrastructure or with limited data.

It would provide a centralised data point for use in considering national infrastructure projects such as the Inland Rail project.

Assessment Criteria 3

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

It is a simple question - where were you at say 10am?

It can be collected easily. It's quick and easy to answer.

Assessment Criteria 4

4. The topic would be acceptable to Census respondents.

Assessment Criteria 5

5. The topic can be collected efficiently.

It will be no more difficult to code this data than any other data collected on a geographical basis.

It is a simple question only requiring an address or suburb from the respondent.

Assessment Criteria 6

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

A time series of this would be very useful and would enable examination of travel distances, home based activities, and so forth.

Assessment Criteria 7

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

This data cannot be readily obtained.

Administrative transport data is incomplete as it does not sufficiently cover road useage or areas where public transport is more limited.