Review of 2021 Census Topics

To be eligible for government assistance, households need to have a low income and a low asset base. Low income households can be identified within the Census, but at present there is no way of knowing whether these households are likely to be eligible based on their assets. At present, “renting” is used as a proxy for low-asset households, however this excludes a large number of early homeowners (high debt, low assets), and may include households who own property but are renting by choice.

If we had some basic way of identifying the level of assets of a households (even in broad ranges), this would be useful. Eligibility of asset-value differs, but as long as the lower levels were covered well (e.g. <$50k, $50k-$100k…. up to $300k) that would be sufficient. Another way of assisting in this area, would be to determine how much mortgage is remaining on the property.

This information is required to estimate the likely demand for government support and services across a number of different cohorts, for example:
• Indigenous households;
• Seniors households;
• One parent households;
• Disability/Carer households etc.

It would be used in planning, policy design and evaluation. It would also be used for service design, mapping and planning for infrastructure around government assets and infrastructure.

Information on the asset base of a household is important for the development of government policy in: housing; seniors; disability; child protection etc.
It is critical for service location planning across all government services. Examples include the placement of financial planning services; legal aid, emergency relief, food relief, crisis accommodation etc.
Finally, it will assist government (at all levels) to identify, at a small area level, where its target populations are (for example; those eligible for health care cards, commonwealth rent assistance etc.). It can also highlight segments of the population who are eligible, but are yet to apply (for example households eligible for public housing who are not on the waiting list).

Government planning for infrastructure is done at a regional or local. This allows a good balance between data quality and robustness, and sufficient granularity for local area decision making. For mapping government services, postcodes or even suburbs may be used. These are more useful when being overlayed with roads, schools and other infrastructure.

If the questions are broad and the results are collected in ranges, this should be simple enough to collect.

For example:
What would the asset base of this household be?
(Include equity in your home, investment properties, shares etc.).
Only include superannuation if a household member is over 65 years old.
Or
What mortgage remains on this property (exclude investment property or other mortgages)?
• Under $100k
• $100k-$199k
• $200k-$299k
• $300k-$399k
• $400k-$499k
• $500k+

If the assets or remaining mortgage was collected in ranges, with $300k+ as the highest range (assets) or $500k remaining being the highest range for mortgage remaining, I don’t think people would find this intrusive.

If the data is collected in ranges it should be simple to code and quality assure. It is a household variable, so only one response per dwelling. It would not add a significant cost to the collection or processing of the Census.

The government will always need information for policy and planning for its low-socio economic target population. It will also be of interest to determine the impact of policy over time; where to open and close existing Government service hubs; and, where to plan for additional infrastructure to ensure continuing government support and services to those that need it the most.

As small area data is required for planning and mapping of government services. There is no alternative data source available. The Census is such a rich source of data for housing information, the collection of assets and/or remaining mortgage would complete the set of variables required for highly accurate government planning. The result would be that even more value is obtained by government from the high level of investment in the Census collection.

I am certain there will be more support on this topic from other government departments. I sent this around to the other Housing Departments in other States, but I didn’t have the right contact is policy, planning and service design. The staff I managed to speak to didn’t really understand the kind of planning and analysis that is being undertaken within the Western Australian Government.
A good example is the WA Department of Communities’ (prev WA Housing Authority) Demand Model. This uses Census data to identify unmet demand for public and affordable housing at the Local Government Area level. I will attach the CODE Demand Model paper to this submission if possible.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me to discuss this submission. Redacted text