Please list any other organisations you have collaborated with on this submission.
Who you have consulted with
Australian Bureau of Statistics
What is your submission about?
Please provide a brief summary of your submission
Topic name
The 2016 Census includes the following question regarding highest qualification completed:
Question 25. What type of educational institution is the person attending?
This question records the type of educational institution currently attended by the respondents, but some of the terms such as “preschool” are not clearly defined and can mean different things in different states or territories. In addition, the question only asks about broad type of institution and it is not clear how online or correspondence institutions are included.
The online census and data processing enhancements provides an opportunity to collect more specific information about the institution which can then be mapped back to institution type as well as provide a rich set of associated data not currently available.
The proposal is to change the question to ask respondents to provide the name and address of the educational institution they are currently attending. An example of this is Question 20 in the 2018 New Zealand Census pictured below.
On the online version of the Census, this could have a drop down list populated with educational institutions that can auto-fill the address to make the selection easier for respondents. There would also need to be an option for online or by correspondence option. This alternative question can be used to test respondents’ understanding of the question as well as determine proxies for journey to place of education.
As an alternative, cognitive testing should be undertaken across different states and territories of the question to ensure reporting is consistent and potentially including further guidance.
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
Ticked
Education and training
Disability and carers
Housing
Location
Transport
Cultural diversity
Religion
Other topic
Assessment Criteria 1
1.
This topic is of current national importance.
National Importance
This data is used by the DET and other institutions for education research purposes. Collecting quality data for this is crucial for policy development and research purposes.
Assessment Criteria 2
2.
There is a need for data from a Census of the whole population.
For whole population
This topic has been collected in the 2016 Census and in previous Censuses and will continue to require data from the whole population. The value of the topic is enhanced by increasing the depth of information collected.
Assessment Criteria 3
3.
The topic can be accurately collected in a form which the household completes themselves.
Easy to answer
The topic and the intent of the question as it was in the 2016 Census is easily understood the specific responses currently listed could have different meanings for respondents. The alternative question we are proposing will be easily understood by respondents. There may be issues with respondents recalling the address of the educational institutions they are studying. However, a general location would still offer more information than is currently being collected. For online respondents, a drop-down or auto-fill feature could assist in answering the question.
Assessment Criteria 4
4.
The topic would be acceptable to Census respondents.
Acceptable
Information on education participation and attainment was collected in the 2016 Census and in previous Censuses; therefore it is not likely to be considered intrusive, offensive or controversial. This change is simply collecting more detail on the on education institution.
Assessment Criteria 5
5.
The topic can be collected efficiently.
Collected efficiently
The question should not present any major difficulties for coding the information and will not require extensive processing for the ABS. The topic will not add minimal cost and time to the Census as we are suggesting to replace the current question and replace it that may increase response time to those respondents currently studying. The question would not require a lengthy explanation.
Assessment Criteria 6
6.
There is likely to be a continuing need for data on this topic in the following Census.
Continuing need
There is need to continue to collect this data in an accurate manner as the topic will remain relevant into the future.
Assessment Criteria 7
7.
There are no other alternative data sources or solutions that could meet the topic need.
No alternatives
Some of the data collected by the population can be found in other datasets but this would not cover every citizen in the population. This question has been asked in previous Censuses and we do not propose that the need for this topic to be collected in this data set will change.