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What the Census doesn't collect, and where to look instead
A redirect guide for the data requests the Census was never designed to answer
The Census is the most comprehensive data source available at local level, but it asks a fixed set of questions, and some things councils want to know are not among them. Because .id tools are built largely on Census data, those gaps carry through to your site. This article lists the requests we hear most often, why the Census can't answer them and where to look instead.
Why a question can be unanswerable at local level
There are three common reasons. The Census may never have asked the question. It may ask a narrower version than the one you need. Or the data may exist nationally, through a survey or administrative collection, without being reliable at LGA or suburb level. In each case the useful answer is a redirect to the best available source, where one exists.
Where to look instead
| What clients asked for | Where the gap is | Where to look instead |
|---|---|---|
| LGBTIQA+ population | Not asked before 2026. Previous Censuses (back to 2001) include information on same-sex partnerships where both partners were counted in the household, but not on broader sexual orientation for people outside a household relationship | The 2026 Census includes sexual orientation and gender as new topics, asked of people aged 16 and over. Same-sex couple information is available on request from .id, but is not in the tools |
| Disability | The Census asks only about 'need for assistance' with core activities, a much narrower measure aimed at severe and profound disability requiring assistance. It is a good proxy in some cases but not for wider disability. Long-term health conditions are another option, correlated with disability but not the same concept | ABS Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, noting it is survey-based with sampling error and generally can't give local information (state and capital city level only). Some modelling work on its outputs can derive synthetic estimates of disability |
| First home buyers | The Census doesnt ask purchase history. Sales data from PropTrack carries no purchaser information | No small-area source we know of; the housing loan quartiles in Community Profile are a rough proxy only. Loans data is available for larger areas from the major banks and regulators |
| Business ownership by characteristics of the owner | Not in the Australian Business Register | Some basic information can be derived from the Census 'Status in employment' variable, which includes 'Owner/Manager of an enterprise' and can be cross-classified by characteristics the Census collects. It is only updated every five years and is not in .id tools – available on request or as a consultancy |
| University drop-out rates | Not collected | Nothing available. It may be possible to derive something from the Census longitudinal sample, but that would need further research |
| Home schooling | Not well captured, and it doesn't fit a category in the National Schools Statistics Collection either. Home-schooled students fall under primary or secondary school 'Other', but they are not the only ones in that category | Nothing reliable |
| Distance travelled to work | Collected in the Census but only released through ABS TableBuilder, not the standard ABS products | ABS TableBuilder; not in .id tools at present |
| Sport and recreation participation | Not collected in the Census, and the ABS stopped collecting it in survey form in 2015 | Nothing at LGA level. Local surveys and some state surveys may have some data |
| Second jobs | The Census records the main job held last week only. Second and multiple job holding has been suggested several times as a future Census topic but has never made it through the selection process | Nothing at local level; this particularly affects counts of creative industries workers. Nationally, the ABS Characteristics of Employment publication covers it |
| Suicide and self-harm data | Not Census data, and it is treated as sensitive. It is in the ABS Causes of Death publication, but often suppressed at local level for confidentiality | Not held in .id tools, due to confidentiality constraints |
| Settlement arrivals since the Census | The Census is the only comprehensive source, and it dates quickly | Department of Home Affairs settlement data via data.gov.au, with limits on detail at local level. Cross-tabulated tables can be requested directly from the Department of Home Affairs, though we are not able to make them available in .id tools |
| Recorded crime data | Not collected in the Census. Police jurisdictions in each state collect it separately, with different definitions and different confidentiality requirements | Because of the definitional differences between states and territories, a consistent national crime dataset has never been possible, so it is not in .id tools. Some crime data may be available from the police department in each state, and we are able to use a range of it in consultancies |
| Pet ownership | Not collected in the Census | Council registration data may be the best source for local information |
Frequently asked questions
Q: Will the 2026 Census fill any of these gaps?
A: Some. Sexual orientation and gender are new 2026 topics, asked of people aged 16 and over, which were not asked in earlier Censuses. The 2026 data will be released in stages from around June 2027, with dates not yet confirmed by the ABS, but the new topics are expected in the first release. We are committed to including them in .id tools, pending data quality assurances from the ABS.
Q: What is ABS TableBuilder?
A: TableBuilder is the ABS tool for building custom extracts of Census data. It holds some items that don't appear in the ABS standard products or in .id tools, such as distance travelled to work. It is free to use once you register on the ABS website, and we can help extract a limited range of additional data from TableBuilder where it isn't in .id tools.
Q: Why doesn't .id just add these datasets?
A: For most items in the table above, no reliable local-level source exists to add. The gap is in the underlying collections, not in the tools, so the most useful thing we can do is point you to the best available source where one exists. Even for Census data, there are an enormous number of possible cross-tabulations, and we can't pre-empt every combination our users will need. Beyond the Census, the main limitation is geography: .id tools rely on small-area information (generally LGA level, suburbs and below), while most survey-based datasets don't have the sample size to go that deep and are available at state or territory level only. In some cases, such as crime data, local datasets exist but are collected so differently between jurisdictions that they aren't comparable nationally. These haven't been added to .id tools but may be available to support reports, consultancy work and specific requests.