Published on 12/07/2022 by Any Business.Com.Au

How to use Census data to benefit your business

As a small business owner have you ever thought about what the Census results might be able to do for your business?

The Census results provide a wealth of information that can help you understand what you need to do now and how you can plan for the future of your business.

The information and data collected from the Census can help you to:

  • • make informed and confident decisions about your business
  • • understand if the population of an area is able to support your business
  • • understand the people in your area and work out if they're a good fit for your target customer group
  • • shape and create the best marketing strategies for your target area

What information was collected from the Census?

The Census collected information from the Australian population, and helps us to understand the trends and demographics in different areas of Australia.

The information collected from the Census includes:

  • • the population of an area
  • • specific characteristics of areas, such as:
  • - the languages most spoken
  • - how people travel to work
  • - the average age and family size
  • - average income levels
  • - how potential customers spend their time

2021 data release

The Census provides a valuable snapshot of information about Australians that reflects our community at the time the Census was undertaken.

The most recent Census of Population and Housing was conducted on 10 August 2021.

The ABS will release 2021 Census data in a staged approach.

There will be three key release phases.

  1. 28 June 2022 – last month most topics were released for almost all geographic outputs for place of usual residence and for place of enumeration on Census night
  1. October 2022 – a smaller number of topics including employment and location-based variables will be released
  1. Early to mid-2023 – complex topics that require additional processing such as distance to work, socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA) will be released

Accessing released data

Once released, Census data can be accessed using a number of Census data tools.

An outline of which data you can access through which product is outlined below.

The products include:

  • QuickStats
  • Community Profiles
  • Census TableBuilder
  • DataPacks
  • GeoPackages

QuickStats

QuickStats are a simple way to understand an area at a glance.

They provide a summary of an area including demographics and tables on key characteristics of the people living in the area, their families, and their dwellings.

There are three types of QuickStats:

  • All persons
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • Country of Birth

Community Profiles

Community Profiles are tools for researching, planning, and analysing geographic areas for a number of social, economic and demographic characteristics.

Community Profiles provide a comprehensive statistical picture of an area in Excel spreadsheets, delivering data relating to people, families, and dwellings.

There are four types of Community profiles:

  • General community profile
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples profile
  • Time series profile
  • Working population profile

DataPacks

DataPacks contain comprehensive data about people, families and dwellings for all Census geographies ranging from Australia down to Statistical Area Level 1.

They are containers of data based on Census Community Profiles and include:

  • digital boundary files
  • metadata and
  • reference documents to enable you to read the data

DataPacks are suitable for experienced Census data users who have their own databases or analysis systems.

The data provided in DataPacks is based on the four Community Profiles with the addition of the Place of enumeration profile, and are available at more levels of geography.

GeoPackages

GeoPackages contain comprehensive data about people, families and dwellings for Census geographical areas ranging from Statistical Areas Level 1 to the whole of Australia.

GeoPackages are Census data linked to geographical boundary data from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) in a database container.

GeoPackages are suitable for experienced Census data users who want Community Profile data for numerous locations and have their own databases or Geographic Information System (GIS) software.

GeoPackages are based on the General community profile and do not include software.

Other data products

Census data will also be released in several other tools. These tools are outlined below with the 2021 Census data availability.

ABS data APIs

Data Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable fast access to ABS statistics by using machine to machine 'API calls'.

These calls return statistics in a machine friendly format so that you can integrate data into your own systems as they are released.

They were part of the first data release in late June.

Census data stories

Stories and visualisations that relate to Census data on topics of interest.

These stories can be found under the Census data by topic tile.

Spreadsheets containing summary data on the topics are also included.

These stories have been and will be progressively released from last month.

Mesh block counts

Mesh blocks are identified with a unique 11 digit code and are the smallest geographical unit (in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard) for which Census data is output.

These datasets contain counts of the total usual resident population and the total dwelling count from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing.

2021 Census Mesh block counts were released with the first data release this year.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.

The indexes are based on information from the five-yearly Census.

2021 Census data will be available from third data release in 2023.

Census Microdata

Basic and Detailed microdata files contain a small random sample of unidentified private households, associated persons, and a small random sample of persons in non-private dwellings.

2021 Census data will be available from third data release in 2023.

Estimates of Homelessness

The ABS will release the 2021 Census Estimates of Homelessness in early to mid-2023.

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AnyBusiness.com.au

Curtis is a leading expert in the business-for-sale industry, serving as a senior content creator at anybusiness.com.au.

With a career spanning over fifteen years, Curtis has accumulated extensive knowledge in the domain of business sales, acquisitions, and valuations. His deep understanding of market dynamics and his ability to translate complex industry jargon into accessible insights make him a trusted resource for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to buy or sell businesses.

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