All data in this Community Atlas is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics(opens a new window), copyright in ABS data vests in the Commonwealth of Australia.

About the social atlas

Demographic change across Australia is recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in the Census collections every five years, Population experts, .id(opens a new window) analyse and convert these raw figures into stories of place to inform council staff, community groups, investors, business, students and the general public.

The City of Darebin Social Atlas presents Census data in its most compelling form – as a series of thematic maps that show how particular population groups are distributed across the City of Darebin. There are over 100 individual maps, each representing a community of interest, such as young children, or the elderly. The maps are shaded to show where there are concentrations of these communities of interest, which enables planners to accurately assess the demand for the provision of services and facilities to target populations.

The thematic maps are created using data from the 2016 and 2011 Censuses of Population and Housing, with an option to view the data for the 2016 year, the 2011 year, or change in number or percentage between the two Censuses. Tables, charts and concise factual commentary are also available from the ‘Analysis’ tab, for each Census year individually (not for the change).

Results for the City of Darebin include population density, age structure, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, income, qualifications, occupations, employment, unemployment, disability, disadvantage, volunteering, childcare, family structure, household structure, housing tenure, mortgage and rental payments, housing stress, and the size and type of the dwellings people live in.

These datasets are derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data, analysed and presented by population experts and funded by the City of Darebin.

Census of Population and Housing

The most comprehensive population count available in Australia is derived from the Census of Population and Housing, conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics every five years. It is an official count of all people and dwellings in Australia on Census night, and collects details of age, sex, religion, education and other characteristics of the population. The last Census was conducted on 9 August 2016 and was the seventeenth national Census for Australia. The next Census is expected to be conducted in August 2021.

Census statistics are used as the basis for estimating the population at national, state and local government levels, for electoral purposes and the distribution of government funds. They are used by individuals and organisations in the public and private sectors for planning, administration, research and decision making.

You would think counting people was pretty straightforward, but populations are estimated in various ways. It is important to understand how a population has been derived when you are using the data.

In atlas.id, there are two different population types which you need to be aware of:

Usual Residence Population

Usual Residence population refers to the population that usually lives in the City of Darebin rather than the population that was counted there on Census night. Each person completing the Census is required to state their address of usual residence and this information is used to derive the Usual Residence population. To be counted as the usual residence, a person has to have lived or intend to live in the dwelling for six months or more of the year.

Usual residence counts are less likely to be influenced by seasonal factors, such as holiday seasons and snow seasons, and provide information about the usual residents of an area.

Usual residence is the default data type for all person topics on the atlas, except for those which relate directly to the dwelling people were counted in, eg. Persons counted in non-private dwellings.

Information on households and dwellings in atlas.id is only presented on an enumerated basis, as usual residence counts are not available at the dwelling or household level. However, while they are referred to as enumeration counts, household characteristics are partially usual residence-based as they are determined with reference to up to three people recorded as temporarily absent on the form.

Enumerated Population

Enumerated population refers to the population counted in the City of Darebin on Census night.  Because it is impossible to catch everyone at home on one night, the Census counts people wherever they were sleeping that night. This might include people who usually live somewhere else but were staying in the area on business or holiday.

This type of count provides a snapshot at a given point in time. The Census is timed to capture the typical situation, however, holiday resort areas, such as the Gold Coast and snow fields, may show a large enumeration count compared with the number of people who usually live there.

Where enumerated population data is used in the community atlas, overseas visitors have been specifically excluded from the tables, but visitors from within Australia are included.

Users in atlas.id can select enumerated population as an option, and it is used by default for all household and dwelling topics, which don’t have a place of Usual Residence.

Which population should you use?

As a general rule, if you are exploring or reporting on the characteristics of a population you need to choose between the Enumerated or Usual Residence populations.

For most areas the numbers will be very similar, and if you are looking at demographic characteristics, it is normally percentages which matter, rather than raw numbers. Both populations are useful measures, and neither is "wrong". You do need to make sure that you are consistent about which population base you decide to use, if you are comparing information between different topics.

Areas with lots of hotels or tourist accommodation even in winter include CBDs of major cities, Queensland coastal holiday resorts and NSW and Victorian ski fields, and these areas are likely to show a difference between the two counts. In this case, if you want to know about how many people are both living and staying in the area and using services, you should use the Enumerated population.  But if you specifically want to know only about the people who live in an area, use the Usual Residence population.

Data confidentiality

The information presented in the tables in atlas.id is based on detailed tables produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics at the Local Government Area level, and at the Statistical Area Level 1 (SA1) level for suburbs and small areas in 2016 and 2011.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will randomise information it provides to preserve confidentiality. All cells are slightly adjusted to prevent any identification of personal details in a method called pertubation.

All figures included within any table may be randomly adjusted by a small amount. These adjustments result in small introduced random errors. This method was introduced, so that not only could individuals not be directly identified in the data, but “differencing” could not be employed to derive individual characteristics. Differencing is deriving two separate tables with a small difference, the calculation of which may be as little as one person. Perturbation makes this impossible.

In the 2016 Census, the ABS introduced an extra layer of perturbation, by removing the “additivity” of tables. This means that individual cells are still randomly adjusted, but no attempt is made to randomly adjust other cells consequentially, to make the tables “add up”. For this reason, for 2016 data, individual SA1 characteristics and total populations may not add up to suburb or LGA level totals. In addition, on the atlas.id Analysis tab users may find that the totals provided for each suburb or small area don’t add to the LGA total. The LGA total provided will generally be more accurate as it has had less relative perturbation applied, and the provided total should be used rather than adding up the individual small areas to derive a total. This is consistent with the ABS guidelines on the removal of additivity.

Please see the ABS guide to confidentiality and additivity in 2016 for more information.

Table totals and rounding

Remember that table totals do not necessarily equate to the sum of the component categories or areas due to the imposition of random adjustment and the removal of the additivity of tables in 2016.

Overseas visitors

Enumerated data from the 2016 and 2011 Censuses are published by the ABS with ‘Overseas visitors’ appearing as a separate category in many tables. To improve usability of the information the category ‘Overseas visitors’ has been removed from all Enumeration based tables. Usual residence tables by definition already have overseas visitors removed. Only the map “Overseas visitors” available on some atlas.id sites, includes them.

Geography notes

All maps in the social atlas are presented at SA1 level to provide the greatest possible level of detail. The datasets are also presented at suburb/small area level in the Analysis tab, with LGA and benchmark totals also shown. As these totals are derived from different tables to the SA1 tables, totals may not always match those derived by summing SA1s (see the confidentiality section above for details). These aggregations have been custom built by .id to match the exact boundary. They match the boundaries presented in the City of Darebin's community profile (profile.id).

SA1 units are designed to have an average size of about 150 households, and represent a few street blocks in urban areas, or a discrete locality in rural areas. The thematic mapping used in the atlas assigns a shade to each SA1 based on the number or percentage of people/households with a particular characteristic in the area. The shade is applied to the whole area and is no indication of where people live within the area.

The 2016 atlas.id has the option of showing both 2016 and 2011 Census data. Most SA1s (94% nationwide) are comparable over time between the two Censuses, and those which are not have been proportionally adjusted using a percentage of population method to approximate the current boundaries. When viewing the two Censuses, users need to be aware that SA1s which have been split for 2016 will still show their 2016 boundaries in 2011, but the data showing is an approximation based on a proportional split of the area. For this reason, in split SA1s, characteristics such as medians and averages will show the same 2011 number across multiple areas – the figure can’t be refined further due to the geographic limitations of that area.

For atlas maps with relatively small populations (eg. unemployment for particular age groups), ABS randomisation ensures that populations of 1 or 2 are not seen in the data but are replaced by 0 or 3, to protect confidentiality and ensure no individual can be identified. For the purposes of informed decision making, small numbers should not be relied upon as they are subject to Census non-sampling error and are more greatly affected by the perturbation and suppression of cells with very small numbers.

Suburb/small area boundaries

The suburb/small area boundaries shown on the map are based on the areas agreed to with the client and are the same ones used in profile.id. These are usually, but not always, based on gazetted localities. They may not always align to SA1 boundaries exactly.

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Whilst .id strive to meet accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, we continually seek out solutions that will bring all areas of our websites up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime, if you require any information from this website in an alternative format, or having any issues accessing the content, please email us at info@id.com.au.