Age-specific death rates
Age-specific death rates are the number of deaths (occurred or registered) during the calendar year at a specified age per 1,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age at the midpoint of the year (30 June). Pro rata adjustment is made in respect of deaths for which the age of the deceased is not given.
Age-specific divorce rates
Age-specific divorce rates are the number of divorces recorded in the calendar year, by age at decree made absolute, per 1,000 of the estimated resident population of the same age at 30 June. Males under 18 and females under 16 are excluded from the population.
Age-specific fertility rates
Age-specific fertility rates are the number of live births (occurred or registered) during the calendar year, according to the age of mother, per 1,000 of the female resident population of the same age at 30 June. For calculating these rates, births to mothers aged under 15 years are included in the 15-19 years age group, and births to mothers aged 50 years and over are included in the 45-49 years age group. Pro rata adjustment is made for births for which the age of mother is not given.
Age-specific marriage rates
Age-specific marriage rates are the number of marriages of males or females registered in a calendar year, by age at marriage, per 1,000 of the estimated resident population in the same age at 30 June. Males and females aged under 15 years are excluded from the population.
Average annual rate of growth
The average annual growth rate, r, is calculated as a percentage using the formula:
where Po is the population at the start of the period, Pn is the population at the end of the period and n is the length of the period between Pn and Po in years.
Balance of state or territory
The aggregation of all Statistical Divisions (SD) within a state or territory other than its Capital City (See Major Statistical Region in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). Historical data are presented on boundaries as defined at the time, unless otherwise stated.
The delivery of a child, irrespective of the duration of the pregnancy, who, after being born, breathes or shows any other evidence of life such as heartbeat.
Category jumping was the name given to the adjustment made to the components of net overseas migration, when these were applied, up until the year ending 30 June 1996. Category jumping was set to zero for the years ending 30 June 1997 to 2001. With the new method of adjusting these components, this adjustment is now known as overseas migration adjustment (see migration adjustment). Category jumping was the term used to describe changes between intended and actual duration of stay of travellers to/from Australia, such that their classification as short-term or as long-term/permanent movers is different at arrival/departure from that after twelve months.
Category of movement
Overseas arrivals and departures are classified according to length of stay (in Australia or overseas), recorded in months and days by travellers on passenger cards. There are three main categories of movement:
A significant number of travellers (i.e. overseas visitors to Australia on arrival and Australian residents going abroad) state exactly 12 months or one year as their intended period of stay. Many of them stay for less than that period and on their departure from, or return to, Australia are therefore classified as short-term.
- permanent movements;
- long-term movements (one year or more); and
- short-term movements (less than one year).
Accordingly, in an attempt to maintain consistency between arrivals and departures, movements of travellers who report their actual or intended period of stay as being one year exactly are randomly allocated to long-term or short-term in proportion to the number of movements of travellers who report their actual length of stay as up to one month more, or one month less, than one year.
Children (divorce collection)
Children in the divorce collection are unmarried children of the marriage who were aged under 18 years at the time of application for divorce. Under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth), these may include (in certain cases) adopted and exnuptial children and children from a former marriage. Children who are married or aged 18 years or more are not subject to custody and guardianship orders and are excluded.
Children (marriage collection)
Children in the marriage collection refer to persons under 16 years of age born from previous marriages. The term children should not be confused with the term previous births used in births data (see Previous births).
A pregnancy which results in at least one live birth.
Crude birth rate
The crude birth rate is the number of live births registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. For years prior to 1992, the crude birth rate was based on the mean estimated resident population for the calendar year.
Crude death rate
The crude death rate is the number of deaths registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. For years prior to 1992, the crude death rate was based on the mean estimated resident population for the calendar year.
Crude divorce rate
The crude divorce rate is the number of decrees absolute granted during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. For years prior to 1992, the crude divorce rate was based on the mean estimated resident population for the calendar year. In the interpretation of this rate, it must be kept in mind that a large and varying proportion of the population used in the denominator is unmarried or is below the minimum age of marriage.
Crude marriage rate
The crude marriage rate is the number of marriages registered during the calendar year per 1,000 estimated resident population at 30 June. For years prior to 1992, the crude marriage rate was based on the mean estimated resident population for the calendar year. In the interpretation of this rate, it must be kept in mind that a large and varying proportion of the population used in the denominator is below the minimum age of marriage or is already married.
Date of final separation
The date of final separation is the date, given on the application for divorce, from which the period of living apart is calculated for the purpose of establishing grounds for divorce. In determining the date of final separation, a single period of resumed cohabitation of less than three months may be ignored, provided the periods of living apart before and after resumed cohabitation amount to a total of 12 months or more.
Date of divorce
Date at which decree absolute of dissolution of marriage is granted.
For the purposes of the Vitals and Causes of Death collections of the ABS, a death refers to any death which occurs in, or en route to Australia and is registered with a state or territory Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
Dependent student (2001 Census of Population and Housing)
This refers to a natural, adopted, step, or foster child who is 15-24 years of age and who attends a secondary or tertiary educational institution as a full-time student and who has no partner or child of his/her own usually resident in the same household.
Decree absolute of dissolution of marriage.
Duration of marriage to divorce
Duration of marriage is the interval measured in completed years between the date of marriage and the date of divorce.
Duration of marriage to separation
Duration of marriage until separation is the interval measured in completed years between the date of marriage and the date of separation.
Estimated resident households
Estimated resident households is a measure of the number of households of the usually resident population. It is based on the census count of households which is adjusted for missed households, households of overseas visitors, households of Australian residents where all members were temporarily overseas at the time of the Census and households of Australian residents where all members were not home on census night and spent census night in a non-private dwelling in Australia.
Estimated resident population (ERP)
The official measure of the population of Australia is based on the concept of residence. It refers to all people, regardless of nationality or citizenship, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomatic personnel and their families. It includes usual residents who are overseas for less than 12 months. It excludes overseas visitors who are in Australia for less than 12 months.
An exnuptial birth is the birth of a child whose parents are not legally married to each other at the time of birth of the child's birth.
First marriage rates
First marriage rates are the number of males and females marrying for the first time during the calendar year, per 1,000 population of never married males and females aged 15 years and over at 30 June.
A household is a group of two or more related or unrelated people who usually reside in the same dwelling, who regard themselves as a household and who make common provision for food or other essentials for living; or a person living in a dwelling who makes provision for his or her own food and other essentials for living, without combining with any other person. Households include group households of unrelated persons, same-sex couple households, single-parent households as well as one-person households. A household may consist of:
A household usually resides in a private dwelling (including caravans etc. in caravan parks). Persons usually resident in non-private dwellings, such as hotels, motels, boarding houses, jails and hospitals, are not included in household estimates.
- one person;
- one family;
- one family and unrelated individual(s);
- related families with or without unrelated individual(s);
- unrelated families with or without unrelated individual(s);
- unrelated individuals.
Household estimate is a measure of the number of households of the usually resident population. It is based on the census count of households which is adjusted for missed households, households of overseas visitors, households of Australian residents where all members were temporarily overseas at the time of the census and households of Australian residents where all members were not home on census night and spent census night in a non-private dwelling in Australia.
Persons who identify themselves as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin or both.
The birth of a live-born child where either the mother or the father was identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin on the birth registration form. Indigenous births in Indigenous population estimates/projections are those which result by applying assumed age-specific fertility rates to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers in reproductive ages.
The death of a person who is identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin on the death registration form.
Persons who identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
An infant death is the death of a live-born child who dies before completing his/her first birthday.
Infant mortality rate
The number of deaths of children under one year of age in a calendar year per 1,000 live births in the same calendar year.
Intercensal discrepancy is the difference between two estimates at 30 June of a census year population, the first based on the latest census and the second arrived at by updating the 30 June estimate of the previous census year with intercensal components of population change which take account of information available from the latest census. It is caused by errors in the start and/or finish population estimates and/or in estimates of births, deaths or migration in the intervening period which cannot be attributed to a particular source.
Life expectancy refers to the average number of additional years a person of a given age and sex might expect to live if the age-specific death rates of the given period continued throughout his/her lifetime.
Long-term arrivals comprise:
- overseas visitors who intend to stay in Australia for 12 months or more (but not permanently); and
- Australian residents returning after an absence of 12 months or more overseas.
Long-term departures comprise:
- Australian residents who intend to stay abroad for 12 months or more (but not permanently); and
- overseas visitors departing who stayed 12 months or more in Australia.
Two separate concepts of marital status are measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). These are registered marital status and social marital status.
Registered marital status refers to formally registered marriages and divorces. Registered marital status is a person's relationship status in terms of whether he or she has, or has had, a registered marriage with another person. Accordingly, people are classified as either 'never married', 'married', widowed' or 'divorced'. Data in this ABS product refer to registered marital status.
Social marital status is the relationship status of an individual with reference to another person who is usually resident in the household. A marriage exists when two people live together as husband and wife, or partners, regardless of whether the marriage is formalised through registration. Individuals are, therefore, regarded as married if they are in a de facto marriage, or if they are living with the person to whom they are registered as married. Under social marital status, a person is classified as either 'married' or 'not married' with further disaggregation of 'married' to distinguish 'registered married' from 'de facto married' person.
Refers to registered marriages only. Under the Marriage Act 1961 (Cwlth), a marriage may be celebrated by a minister of religion registered as an authorised celebrant, by a district registrar or by other persons authorised by the Attorney-General. Notice of the intended marriage must be given to the celebrant at least one calendar month but within six calendar months before the marriage. A celebrant must transmit an official certificate of the marriage for registration in the state or territory in which the marriage took place.
For any distribution the median value (age, duration, interval) is that value which divides the relevant population into two equal parts, half falling below the value, and half exceeding it. Where the value for a particular record has not been stated, that record is excluded from the calculation.
The ABS applies a number of adjustments to overseas arrivals and departures data in order to produce estimates of Net Overseas Migration (NOM). These mainly comprise adjustments designed to reflect differences between stated travel intentions and actual travel behaviour, but (in the case of revised NOM estimates) also include adjustments to transform numbers of overseas movements into numbers of travellers. Until recently, adjustments used by ABS to produce NOM estimates were collectively referred to as 'category jumping adjustments'. They are now referred to more simply as 'migration adjustments'.
For any group, the number of people who changed their usual residence in a specified period expressed as a percentage of the population in that group. The census defines usual residence at a point in time and, therefore, mobility rates do not account for multiple moves or moves occurring between periods.
A multiple birth is a confinement which results in two or more issue, at least one of which is live-born.
Excess of births over deaths.
Net interstate migration
The difference between the number of persons who have changed their place of usual residence by moving into a given state or territory and the number who have changed their place of usual residence by moving out of that state or territory during a specified time period. This difference can be either positive or negative.
Net intrastate migration
The difference between the number of persons who have changed their place of usual residence by moving into a given SLA and the number who have changed their place of usual residence by moving to any other SLA within the same state during a specified time period. This difference can be either positive or negative.
Net overseas migration
Net overseas migration is net permanent and long-term overseas migration, adjusted for change in traveller duration, intention and multiple movement error.
Net permanent and long-term movement
The difference between the number of permanent (settler) and long-term arrivals and the number of permanent and long-term departures. Short-term movements are excluded.
Net reproduction rate
The net reproduction rate represents the average number of daughters that would be born to a group of females if they are subject to the fertility and mortality rates of a given year during their future life. It indicates the extent to which the population would reproduce itself. The net reproduction rate is obtained by multiplying the age-specific fertility rates (for female births only) by the proportion of survivors at corresponding ages in a life table and adding the products.
Non-dependent child (2001 Census of Population and Housing)
This refers to a natural, step, adopted or foster child of a couple or lone parent usually resident in the household, aged over 15 years and who is not a full-time student aged 15-24 years, and who has no partner or child of his/her own usually resident in the household.
A nuptial birth is the birth of a child born of parents who are legally married at the time of the child's birth.
Nuptial first confinement
A nuptial first confinement is the first confinement in the current marriage and therefore does not necessarily represent the woman's first ever confinement resulting in a live birth.
Nuptiality relates to the registered marital status of persons and the events such as marriages, divorces and widowhood. Confinements and births are identified as being nuptial where the father registered was married to the mother at the time of birth, or where the husband died during pregnancy. Confinements and children of Indigenous mothers considered to be tribally married are classified as nuptial. Other confinements, and the children resulting from them, are classified as exnuptial whether or not both parents were living together at the time of birth.
Overseas arrivals and departures (OAD)
Overseas arrivals and departures (OAD) refer to the arrival or departure of persons, through Australian airports (or sea ports), which have been recorded. Statistics on OAD relate to the number of movements of travellers rather than the number of travellers (i.e. the multiple movements of individual persons during a given reference period are all counted).
A paternity-acknowledged birth refers to an exnuptial birth where paternity was acknowledged.
Permanent arrivals (settlers)
Permanent arrivals (settlers) comprise:
This definition of settlers is used by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). Prior to 1985 the definition of settlers used by the ABS was the stated intention of the traveller only. Numerically the effect of the change in definition is insignificant. The change was made to avoid the confusion caused by minor differences between data on settlers published separately by the ABS and DIMIA.
- travellers who hold migrant visas (regardless of stated intended period of stay);
- New Zealand citizens who indicate an intention to settle; and
- those who are otherwise eligible to settle (e.g. overseas-born children of Australian citizens).
Permanent departures are Australian residents (including former settlers) who on departure state that they are departing permanently.
For Australia, population growth is the sum of natural increase and net overseas migration. For states and territories, population growth also includes net interstate migration. After the Census, intercensal population growth also includes an allowance for intercensal discrepancy.
Previous births refer to children born alive (who may or may not be living) to a mother prior to the registration of the current birth in the processing period. In some states, legitimised and legally adopted children may also be included.
Due to variation in data collection and processing methods across states and territories, different definitions of the concept of previous births have been applied.
All previous births of the mother includes all births prior to the current confinement, regardless of nuptiality and paternity.
Previous births of the current relationship where paternity was acknowledged includes all births prior to the current confinement where the current confinement relates to a nuptial birth, or an exnuptial birth where paternity was acknowledged.
See Previous births.
Rate of population growth
Population change over a period as a proportion (percentage) of the population at the beginning of the period.
Remarriage rates are the number of remarrying males and females per 1,000 population of widowed and divorced males or females of the same age at 30 June. The rates are separately calculated for widowed or divorced males or females by appropriately adjusting the numerator and denominator of the rates.
Replacement level fertility is the number of babies a female would need to have over her reproductive life span to replace herself and her partner. Given the current mortality of females up to age 49 years, replacement fertility is estimated at 2.1 babies per female.
The sex ratio relates to the number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio is defined for total population, at birth, at death and among age groups by appropriately selecting the numerator and denominator of the ratio.
Standardised death rates
Standardised death rates enable the comparison of death rates between populations with different age structures by relating them to a standard population. The ABS standard populations relate to the years ending in 1 (eg. 1991). The current standard population is all persons in the 2001 Australian population. They are expressed per 1,000 or 100,000 persons. There are two methods of calculating standardised death rates:
The direct method - this is used when the populations under study are large and the age-specific death rates are reliable. It is the overall death rate that would have prevailed in the standard population if it had experienced at each age the death rates of the population under study.
The indirect method - this is used when the populations under study are small and the age-specific death rates are unreliable or not known. It is an adjustment to the crude death rate of the standard population to account for the variation between the actual number of deaths in the population under study and the number of deaths which would have occurred if the population under study had experienced the age-specific death rates of the standard population.
State or territory of registration
State or territory of registration refers to the state or territory in which the event was registered.
State or territory of usual residence
State or territory of usual residence refers to the state or territory of usual residence of:
In the case of overseas movements, state or territory of usual residence refers to the state or territory regarded by the traveller as the one in which he/she lives or has lived. State or territory of intended residence is derived from the intended address given by settlers, and by Australian residents returning after a journey abroad. Particularly in the case of the former, this information does not necessarily relate to the state or territory in which the person will eventually establish a permanent residence.
- the population (estimated resident population)
- the mother (birth collection)
- the deceased (death collection).
Statistical District (S Dist)
Statistical Districts (S Dist) consist of selected, significant, predominantly urban areas in Australia which are not located within a Capital City Statistical Division (SD). S Dists enable comparable statistics to be produced about these selected urban areas. Further information concerning S Dists is contained in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Statistical Division (SD)
Statistical Divisions (SD) consist of one or more Statistical Subdivisions (SSD). The divisions are designed to be relatively homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable social and economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Further information concerning SDs is contained in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Statistical Local Area (SLA)
Statistical Local Areas (SLA) are, in most cases, identical with, or have been formed from a division of, whole Local Government Areas (LGA). In other cases, they represent unincorporated areas. In aggregate, SLAs cover the whole of a state or territory without gaps or overlaps. In some cases legal LGAs overlap statistical subdivision boundaries and therefore comprise two or three SLAs (Part A, Part B and, if necessary, Part C). Further information concerning SLAs is contained in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Statistical Subdivision (SSD)
Statistical Subdivisions (SSD) are of intermediate size, between Statistical Local Areas (SLA) and Statistical Divisions (SD). In aggregate, they cover the whole of Australia without gaps or overlaps. They are defined as socially and economically homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable links between the inhabitants. In the non-urban areas an SSD is characterised by identifiable links between the economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Further information concerning SSDs is contained in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0).
Total fertility rate
The sum of age-specific fertility rates. It represents the number of children a woman would bear during her lifetime if she experienced current age-specific fertility rates at each age of her reproductive life.
Year of occurrence
Data presented on year of occurrence basis relate to the date the event occurred.
Year of registration
Data presented on year of registration basis relate to the date the event was registered.