Review of 2021 Census Topics

This submission addresses the potential to include questions on the topic of health.
There is considerable activity undertaken by Local Governments to promote public health.
For the City of Adelaide, and other LGAs, this has extended to planning and programs to enhance the wellbeing and resilience of their populations.
While there are existing data collections that collect information of this type, it is best applied at State and National level and not suitable to inform planning and projects at the LGA level, especially LGAs with small resident populations.
Local Government typically undertakes this type of research themselves through household or resident surveys, often in conjunction with questions on satisfaction with, and the relative importance of, various council services and facilities, perceptions of safety and so on.
Inclusion in the Census would provide a valuable and authoritative data source on key aspects of health and wellbeing in local communities.

Data around health and wellbeing would be useful to support policy development, planning and programs for the City of Adelaide and other Local Government Areas that are undertaking activity to promote the health and enhance the wellbeing and resilience of their populations. Quality data underpins policy and program development and advocacy to other levels of Government for services and facilities that meet community needs and aspirations.

A range of non-Government service providers would also benefit from quality data for their advocacy, planning and policy purposes.

We note in the ‘Other’ Topic brief that self-assessed health status has already been raised by stakeholders. We see value in the Census including such as question. 

We acknowledge that there are other data collections that address the health of populations. At the National level the National Health Survey and the General Social Survey are both relevant. In South Australia, we have the South Australian Monitoring and Surveillance System (SAMSS). In all cases these sample surveys cannot produce data viable for use by low population LGAs.

Asking questions of the whole population would ensure that there was data suitable for use at the LGA level.

We acknowledge that inclusions of the theme of health and wellbeing could not be comprehensive and that the need for separate data collections would remain.
The Census provides a highly regarded, sound and authoritative source of information. It is a very well used and respected source of information about usual resident populations. For the City of Adelaide, it is our preferred data source whenever possible.
We have considered the types of questions that could work in a Census and have steered away from ‘perception’ questions to factual ones that are consistent with the style of existing Census questions. We respect that the overall burden on households to complete the Census should not be unduly increased. City of Adelaide has a deep interest in acquiring data to indicate community wellbeing in relation to physical activity, nutrition and sleep.

• In the past week, on average, how many hours of sleep did Person X have each night?
• How many serves of vegetables did Person X consume in the past week?
• How many minutes of physical activity did Person X do in the last week? (With responses in ranges up to the recommended 150 minutes and then beyond)

We consider the questions to be simple and answerable. Some explanation would need to be given. For example, what constitutes a serve of vegetables.
Questions of this type have been used in other surveys so we consider it unlikely that respondents would find them intrusive, offensive or controversial.
 

There is not a large number of response categories to include and processing of responses would be relatively simple and efficient.
Detailed instruction or explanation of the questions should not be required, although there would be a need for a definition of a serve of vegetables, and for ‘physical activity’. Aside from that, the concepts are likely to be familiar to respondents. They don’t rely on the person knowing what the recommended amount is.

The City of Adelaide considers that this topic is likely to remain relevant into the future. Our City and other cities, large and small, have an enduring interest in building communities and strengthening the capacity of individuals and communities to manage and to respond and prosper in the face of growth and change. Key elements of human life – eating well, sleeping enough, and undertaking physical activity – are enduring
Time series data on the topic would be useful for planning and as an indicator of our progress towards our community wellbeing goals.

This criteria is addressed at Assessment Criteria 2.