Demographic data in Australia

Abstract

The conventional study of demographic issues typically focuses on the components of population, and of population change over time. The data required for measuring major demographic events include measures of births, union formation and dissolution, deaths and migration. Population enumeration has a long history in Australia. Vital (or civil) registration and routine censuses were collected following European settlement, providing important information on demographic events in the Australian colonies. To the extent that demography measures the dynamics of population, these data collections remain important sources of population data that are essential to demographic enquiry. However, demographic study is substantially broader than the mathematical measurement of these components. Research on population issues is concerned with the social, economic, cultural, environmental, epidemiological and many other determinants of demographic events. This has resulted in the study of population being strongly influenced by, and conducted from, many disciplinary perspectives. This review focuses on some of the major data sources used for demographic enquiry. Aside from the essential sources of vital registration and census data, access to administrative and survey data is important for analytical purposes.