2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures, 2016

Transcription

1 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures, 2016 Before completing this form Pre-submission reading: Before making a submission, please read the following information paper Census of Population and Housing: Consultation on Content and Procedures, 2016 (cat. no ). This paper sets out initial proposals from the ABS on content and procedures for the 2016 Census and invites comment from the public. Preparing your submission: Submissions for the inclusion of a new topic or the modification of an existing topic require detailed justification against the following criteria to facilitate assessment: The topic is of current national importance. There is a current need for data on the topic for small population groups and/or at the small area level. There are no other suitable alternative data sources available for the topic. The topic is suitable for inclusion in the Census. There is likely to be a continuing need for data on the topic in the following Census. If you wish to make a submission on any aspect of the Census, you will need to complete the following form. A separate submission will be required for each topic or aspect of the Census you wish to address. We advise that you look at the questions being asked and prepare your submission before starting your form. The on-line submission form does not have a save function. Therefore once you start you will need to complete it, or start over if you exit out of the form, unless you have saved your content in another location. Lodging submissions Please lodge your submission for the 2016 Census content or procedures using either this submission form or the online version at Please return the completed form to 2016census@abs.gov.au (if completed electronically). If you are submitting a paper version of this form, please return it to: 2016 Census Submissions Australian Bureau of Statistics Locked Bag 10 Belconnen ACT 2616 Due Date The submission period is open from 6 November May Help If you have any queries about the submission process please visit census@abs.gov.au or telephone Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 1

2 Contact details Q1. Please provide contact details of the person to contact regarding this submission. Note: These details must be completed as anonymous submissions will not be considered. * Denotes mandatory fields Name: Title (e.g. Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr, etc): Dr First name*: Loucas Surname*: Nicolaou Postal address*: PO Box/Apartment, Flat or Unit No (if any): 1 Street No.: 4 Street Name: Phipps Close Suburb: Deakin State/Territory: ACT Postcode: 2600 Country, if not in Australia: Phone number: (02) Mobile number: address*: admin@fecca.org.au Q2. Do you agree to allow the ABS to publicly refer to the information provided in this submission as a statement of your, or your organisation's, views on the relevant topics or procedures?* Note: The ABS may make public the views put forward in this submission. However, the ABS will not publish the names of persons or organisations making submissions unless you have given permission to do so. Please select a response below: Yes, I agree No, I do not agree 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 2

3 Preliminary information Q3. Are you are completing this submission as a*: Please select a response below: Private individual not representing any organisation? Go to Q7 Representative of an organisation or government department? Go to next question Q4. What is the name and address of your organisation?* Note: For organisations with offices at more than one location please indicate the address where your head office is located. Name of organisation: Federation of Ethnic Communities Council of Australia (FECCA) Address of organisation*: PO Box/Apartment, Flat or Unit No (if any): 1 Street No.: 4 Street Name: Phipps Close Suburb: Deakin State/Territory: ACT Postcode: 2600 Country, if not in Australia: Q5. What is your position in the organisation? Position Title: Designation/Level/Role: Chief Executive Officer Chief Executive Officer Q6. Which sector best describes your organisation? Please select a response below: 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 3

4 Government Sector / Australian Government Government Sector / State / Territory Government Sector / Local Private sector (fewer than 20 employees) Private sector (20 or more employees) Other (please specify): Not-for-profit organisation (with fewer than 20 employees) FECCA is the peak, national body representing Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. FECCA's role is to advocate, lobby and promote issues on behalf of its constituency to government, business and the broader community Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 4

5 Submission for the 2016 Census of Population and Housing Please answer, in as much detail as possible, the following questions: Q7. Does this submission relate to*: Please select a response below: A new topic? Go to next question Change to an existing topic? Go to next question The exclusion of a topic? Go to Q16 Some other aspect of the Census? Go to Q19 Q8. What is the name of the topic?* Note: Please use the topic names listed in Census of Population and Housing: Consultation on Content and Procedures, 2016 (cat. no ), if appropriate. Please specify other topics. Ancestry Q9. Please define the topic and/or describe modifications you are proposing to this topic for the 2016 Census.* Responses to the ancestry question can capture the ethnic and/or cultural background that a person identifies with. As FECCA will argue in this submission, responses to the country of birth question are not necessarily reflective of ancestry in the sense of cultural and/or ethnic identify. FECCA understands that the question on ancestry is under review by the ABS. FECCA submits, however, that the Census question on ancestry is very important in collecting data that captures the diverse ethnic makeup of Australia and can be used in a range of policy and planning activities, and will contend that this question must be retained in the 2016 census. FECCA submits that there may be value in reviewing the wording of the question, perhaps to specify what is meant by ancestry, namely the ethnic or cultural identity of the respondents parents and grandparents Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 5

6 Q10. Criteria 1: The topic is of current national importance.* Note: What specific purposes will the data be used for? Please consider the following when addressing this criteria: Uses in policy-making, long-term planning, social and economic applications. What benefits will flow from this data. The consequences if this topic was not included in the 2016 Census. In particular, please consider what activities could not take place or would be significantly reduced or degraded in quality. The data collected on ancestry is crucial to developing a national demographic sketch of Australia s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) groups for first, second and third generation Australians because no other question provides information on the identity of immigrants beyond first generation Australians. Moreover, if data on ancestry is not taken into account, the ethnic and/or cultural identify of first generation Australians may be skewed because an answer to the country of birth question does not always reflect a person s cultural/ethnic identity, and thus would not accurately reflect Australia s diverse groups. Retaining the ancestry question is of national importance because it can be used in policymaking, improvement of existing services, and long term planning as shown below. Benefits from collecting data on ancestry Collecting data on ancestry provides information about Australia s diverse ethnic and cultural communities. Australia is a country of multi-layered, multicultural communities, with many immigrants and their children and grandchildren etc. making up the different CALD communities; ancestry data helps to show the existence and size of these different communities. With ancestry data we can get a broad sense of how multicultural Australia is. These benefits of collecting ancestry data will be further discussed in consequences if data is not taken into account as the same data is not able to be collected or inferred solely from the country of birth question (or from the country of birth of parents question if it were changed to ask for the country to be specified rather than only saying overseas as FECCA is advocating in a separate submission). Furthermore, ancestry, in combination with a number of other census questions, gives information on the features of different CALD communities in Australia which can then be used to map social cohesion and community integration across Australia as well as assist in various policy and planning activities as outlined below. Uses in policy making, long-term planning and social and economic applications As discussed above, the ancestry data would provide information on the existence and size of different CALD communities in Australia that is fuller and more accurate than that provided by country of birth. A fuller and more accurate sketch of certain demographic groups provided for by the ancestry question would assist in the development and implementation of public policy and would inform service delivery in a number of ways that would improve government programs and services. As shown below, there are a number of public policy areas where information on ancestry can be important: HEALTH: Studies (e.g. Khoo Siew-Ean 2012) have emphasized the importance of ancestry data in identifying CALD 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 6

7 aged groups that will need different health services. Thus, a fuller demographic sketch using ancestry information can enable better planning for infrastructure and services to aid aged CALD groups. EMPLOYMENT: Ancestry in combination with the employment/income Census question may give a good understanding of employment outcomes for particular communities, including as new arrivals settle and for second and third generation Australians. Some research has indicated that recent immigrants unemployment rates can initially be very high, which lasts for a long period of time, around 4-5 years. Thus, data on ancestry and rates of unemployment may indicate whether certain CALD persons of a particular CALD community are not gaining employment. Further research into causes of this would therefore rely on the use of ancestry data, as in the following example: o In Booth, Leigh and Varagona s field study (2012) 1, which showed how ethnic minority candidates needed to apply for more jobs in order to receive the same number of interviews, the authors noted that the ancestry question was essential: Since our experiment will focus on ethnicity rather than country of birth, a more appropriate comparator might be ancestry. However, the Australian census has not consistently asked respondents about their ancestry. Therefore, it is only possible to look at recent data, and not to construct a time series of ancestry shares. EDUCATION: By combining ancestry and education and qualifications completed, we can gain information on the education outcomes for particular CALD communities. Therefore, any further research into causes of education outcomes of particular CALD communities or research on education needs of different CALD communities would rely on the information provided for by the ancestry data. LOCATION OF SERVICES: By combining ancestry with geographic information, such as address, we can gain information on the geographic distribution of CALD communities, which can show community features such as whether CALD Australians choose to live where existing family members or people of the same cultural and/or ethnic background are. This information can better inform government policies and planning as to which CALD communities need certain services, and where these services are needed. LANGUAGE: By combining ancestry with main language other than English spoken at home and proficiency in spoken English, we can determine the degree to which community languages continue to be spoken among first, second and third generation Australians and the proficiency of English among specific CALD communities. This information can assist in mapping social cohesion, looking at what languages should be taught in schools, and in improving language services. Consequences if data is not taken into account If the data is not taken into account, it would limit the ability to gain a comprehensive demographic sketch of Australia s CALD groups beyond first generation Australians. Moreover, the country of birth question does not reflect the same qualitative data as ancestry. These points are discussed below: Demographic sketch of Australia s cultural and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups beyond first generation Australians: For first generation Australians, the country of birth and the ancestry questions combined indicate cultural and ethnic 1 Alison L. Booth, Andrew Leigh and Elena Varganova (2012), Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary Across Minority Groups? Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 74 (4), pp Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 7

8 identity. However for second generation Australians, as the question on country of birth of parents only specifies if parents were born overseas or in Australia and there is no ancestry of parents question, the cultural and ethnic identity of second generation Australians is indicated only by the ancestry question. (Note: FECCA is advocating in a separate submission for expansion of the Country of Birth of Parents question to ask respondents to specify the country rather than choosing between only Australia and overseas.) Furthermore, there is no question on country of birth of grandparents, so the cultural and ethnic identify of third generation Australians is indicated only by the ancestry question. Therefore, if the ancestry question were to be excluded, it would only be the country of birth of first generation Australians that would give information about the nature and size of different cultural and/or ethnic communities that make up Australia, missing out second (unless the Country of Birth of Parents question was changed to specify the country) and third generation Australians. Being able to identify the cultural and ethnic identity of second and third generation Australians is important for a number of reasons, including that third generation Australians may have some of the same or similar needs as second and/or first generation Australians and second generation Australians may have some of the same or similar needs as first generation Australians but without having the information it is not possible to respond to those needs and plan services appropriately, which might have negative impacts on social inclusion and cohesion. Such needs could include, for example, the need to assist and/or care for parents and grandparents with limited English, having certain cultural needs and/or sensitivities, and being susceptible to certain health issues that might be prevalent in particular ethnic or cultural groups for certain reasons. An answer to the country of birth question does not always reflect a person s cultural or ethnic identity, and thus data is needed to reflect Australia s increasing and diverse immigration: There are various cases where answering the country of birth question does not accurately reflect the ethnic and/or cultural background of the respondent. Examples include: a. Having to flee as a refugee and being born in a refugee camp would not accurately reflect the person s home country s ethnicity, and instead wrongly categorise the person as having another country of birth. A similar situation occurs when sovereign boundaries of a country change. For example, Ukrainians born in territories not subject to Ukrainian sovereignty at time of birth will not be able to identify their Ukrainian identity. b. Some ethnic communities are not based on country of birth, as they form minorities within various adjacent countries. For example, the Kurdish community does not have its own country, with people identifying as Kurdish being born in various countries including Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq. Thus, this group would not be identified in the census without the ancestry question and it would therefore not be possible to form knowledge of these communities and plan policies and services appropriately. c. Some communities form distinct ethnic communities within a country. For instance, Burma (The Republic Union of Myanmar) has distinct communities separated by different languages: Burman, Karen, Chin and Rohingya communities. In other countries, such as Malaysia, there are three major ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian, and various minority indigenous communities: for instance, Kadazan, Iban, Bario and Minangkabau. Similarly, in Fiji, the population includes indigenous Fijians, Indians, Muslims, Rotumans and Chinese, who, while all Fijians, maintain distinct cultural practices. Thus, only having country of birth without ancestry does not capture the ethnic diversity of these people. In conclusion, without this fuller and more detailed sketch of community demographics, policy planning and service delivery of CALD specific areas such as the multicultural workers needed in certain areas, CALD-specific health services 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 8

9 etc. would be less accurate. Q11. Criteria 2: There is a current need for data on the topic for small population groups and/or at the small area level.* Note: Please consider when addressing this criteria: At what geographic level will data from the topic be required? For which population groups will the data from the topic be required? Please specify why the data would be useful at this level. The data is needed at national level to give a fuller sketch of population demographics (as discussed in Q10) but it would also be highly beneficial to have ancestry data for different population groups and for particular areas. Specific information relating to CALD communities and employment outcomes and/or socio-economic indicators would be useful for different levels of Government to undertake planning for specific areas. Need for CALD specific information for different population groups Different population groups have different needs. Ancestry, in combination with other indicators such as socio-economic or employment data, could allow government to assess how communities are faring and how services can be more suitably tailored to suit their needs. Below are some examples of specific population groups and the related issues. Data on ancestry would give an indication of the cultural barriers or certain sensitivities some groups have. Women and healthcare needs: Women from a particular CALD community may need more culturally specific healthcare as their cultural norms differ from mainstream communities. Thus, based on ancestry data, gender and geographic areas, the government would better be able to allocate culturally sensitive services at the relevant healthcare providers. Ageing CALD Australians and healthcare needs: Similarly, ageing CALD communities may require aged care services that respond to certain cultural needs or that respect cultural norms. Thus, responses to the ancestry question could help identify this more clearly as the ancestry question can show a person s cultural identity. Need for CALD specific information at specific geographic areas The data from ancestry, income and employment as well as address could be used to identify how CALD communities are faring at different locations. This could be used to also see how CALD communities are faring in urban and rural areas. Data collected geographically could also be used to identify poor socio-economic areas and if these areas coincide with settlement areas for certain CALD groups, and steps could then be taken to improve employment opportunities etc. Moreover, getting information on socio-economic, employment, education and health issues for these groups is important for Government to be able to determine how certain groups in CALD communities and how certain CALD communities in different areas are faring Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 9

10 Q12. Criteria 3: There are no suitable alternative data sources available for the topic.* Are there any alternative data sources available for the topic? If yes, please specify and consider the following in relation to these data sources when addressing this criteria. Why are these data sources not appropriate for the purposes indicated in the first criteria? Will these data sources provide high quality data for the entire population, and/or for small population groups and/or at the small area level? Name of alternative data source and organisation responsible if known. To FECCA s knowledge, there are no alternative data sources for ancestry. Studies have also indicated that the Census is the only data source for Ancestry (see Booth, Leigh & Varagona s study Does Ethnic Discrimination Vary Across Minority Groups? Evidence from a Field Experiment ). ABS also indicated in its justification for inclusion of the ancestry question in the 2011 census that there are no other sources for ancestry ( Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 10

11 Q13. Criteria 4: The topic is suitable for inclusion in the Census.* Note: Please consider when addressing this criteria that Census topics should not: Upset people by invading their privacy to an unacceptable degree. The information you will get from such a topic would be subject to bias and will affect other data used and collected in conjunction with it. Be subjective (i.e. likely to have varying interpretations for individuals, such as "How would you rate your overall health status"). Seek information which may not be not generally known such as "where was your maternal grandmother born". Be complex to code or difficult to process. You should consider the way answers would need to be classified. Require people to remember things they are unlikely to be able to, for example "What was your income five years ago". Seek opinions or attitudes. Require more than one or two questions to obtain the required information. Require an overlong explanation or instructions to ensure an accurate answer. If the type of question needed cannot be understood with minimum of explanation, it is not suitable or appropriate for inclusion in the Census. In addition to producing highly important data, the ancestry question is suitable for inclusion in Census. The topic is not subject to bias because, if worded correctly, applicants are most likely to list ancestries reflecting their parents or grandparents ethnic or cultural identify, thus reflecting theirs. The data will not be affected by other data such as country of birth because data from the ancestry question has a separate coding system. The question is not likely to be subjective because a cultural or ethnic group is generally a well understood and defined identity marker as agreed by all those who are themselves a part of it. However, it is important for respondents to know that ancestry refers to the ethnic or cultural heritage of their parents and grandparents (see suggestion below for possible additions to wording of question). The information is likely to be known and does not require people to remember things they are unlikely to be able to as it is only asking the respondent to think about their parents and grandparents, not further (in the current form of the question). Given there is a system used to categorise ancestry responses, the responses should not be too difficult to code or process. The ancestry question does not seek opinions or attitudes; it asks only about identity of parents/grandparents. The ancestry question only requires one question to obtain the required information. The question does not require an overly long explanation or instructions to ensure an accurate answer. However, it could be useful to slightly extend the ancestry census question so that the question itself explains that ancestry is referring to the ethnicity or cultural group of the respondents parents/grandparents. FECCA submits that this would not make the question overly long, if worded correctly. The benefits of collecting ancestry data outweigh concerns about wording or other possible issues. As ancestry data is important for understanding the demographic sketch of CALD communities and is vital for policy, planning and provision of services, the ancestry question should be kept. It is worth considering modifying the wording to clarify for respondents within the wording of the question what is meant by ancestry. FECCA proposes a change to more specific wording as discussed above, and to continue with space for written answers (i.e. not check/tick boxes) Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 11

12 Q14. Criteria 5: There is likely to be a continuing need for data on the topic in the following Census.* Note: Please consider the following when addressing this criteria: Will there still be a need for data on this topic at the time of next Census in 2021, and into the future? Yes, there will be a continuing need for data as Australia has very diverse CALD populations. As long as there is immigration to Australia, there will be a need for this data to be collected to identify and better understand culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The data on ancestry is needed for ongoing policy decisions and in improving service delivery, as CALD populations fluctuate and do not remain static. Q15. Please also consider the following points in relation to the topic and include in your submission*: What data output items will be required for the topic? (Please provide details of the output categories required and, if appropriate, ranges/descriptions for each category.) What cross-classifications will be needed with other Census topics? Could this topic be included on a 10-yearly cycle rather than a 5-yearly cycle? Ancestry, in terms of ethnicity and/or cultural background, is the data output item required for this topic; so the response outputs would be the name of an ethnic group, a cultural group or a nationality depending on how the respondent views their ancestry. The ABS could then use its existing Classification of Cultural and Ethnic Groups tool to categorise the outputs. There would be no cross-classifications needed with other Census topics to achieve the outcome of identifying the different CALD communities and their size across Australia. However, as has been discussed, there could be crossclassifications with certain questions, such as employment or address, to determine certain other features of the CALD communities such as their employment outcomes or their location. FECCA contends that the question should be kept on a five, rather than a ten, yearly basis because it is important to have as much data about ethnicity as possible with Australia being a multicultural society. The changing features of communities such as where they are located need to be captured on a regular and sufficiently frequent basis to inform and update policies and service delivery Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 12

13 Q16. Is there any topic which you consider should be excluded from the 2016 Census? Please select a response below : No Go to question 19 Yes Go to next question Q17. What is the name of the topic which you consider should be excluded from the 2016 Census? Note: Please use the topic names listed in Census of Population and Housing: Consultation on Content and Procedures, 2016 (cat. no , if appropriate. Please specify other topics. Q18. Why do you think that this topic should be excluded from the 2016 Census? Q19. Would you like to provide any further comments on the proposals for the 2016 Census? 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 13

14 Q20. Would you like to attach a file to support your submission? Yes, I would like to attach a file No, I would not like to attach a file Acknowledgement Once the ABS has received your submission, we will send you or your organisation a letter of acknowledgement, either by post or . What happens after submissions close? Following assessment of submissions, final recommendations on the nature and content of the 2016 Census will be discussed with the Australian Statistics Advisory Council (ASAC) in late The ABS will then make a submission to the Government, including recommendations on the nature and content of the 2016 Census. A decision on the content of the 2016 Census is expected to be known by the end of People who have provided submissions will be advised of the outcome. Thank you for your interest in the 2016 Census 2016 Census of Population and Housing: Submission Form for Content or Procedures 14