Mental Health & Homelessness

The recently released National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results, 2007 (cat. no. 4326.0) includes information on a selection of life experiences and mental health, including homelessness. Data is available for people who reported ever being homeless, and type of mental disorder experienced, such as anxiety disorders or substance use disorders.

Homelessness statistics for the Australian population can be found in the Australian Census Analytic Program publication: Counting the Homeless, 2006 (cat. no. 2050.0), released in September 2008.

This publication includes data from the 2006 Census complemented by data from other surveys of youth homelessness and users of support services. It also provides information on the change in the size and composition of the homeless population over time, and draws on earlier research using 1996 and 2001 Census data.

Data relating to homelessness and indigenous people can be found in The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2008 (cat. no. 4704.0).

The Australian Institute of Health & Welfare (AIHW) released the 9th issue of Mental Health Services in Australia, 2004-05 in August 2008, which includes information on Mental Health-related Supported Accommodation Assistance Program Services (chapter 9); and the bulletin Homeless SAAP clients with mental health and substance use problems 2004-05 in 2007.

CDATA Online FAQs

If you are accessing CDATA Online to create and customise tables, maps and graphs you can now check Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) online for assistance using this product.

Sport & Physical Activity

Is playing computer games a sport?
Does golf provide fitness benefits?
When is dancing a sport rather than a form of artistic expression?

A new Information Paper: Defining Sport and Physical Activity, A Conceptual Model (cat. no. 4149.0.55.001) looks a range of issues, key concepts, and definitions relating to survey research on sport and physical activity.

Check the Culture and Recreation theme pages to find the latest sporting and physical activity statistics.

National Accounts & AWE historical data now online

All ABS publications from 1994 onwards are available online. Recently the ABS added earlier issues to the ABS website for:

• Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0) - now available from Mar 1972 onwards
• Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (cat. no. 6302.0) - now available from 1983 onwards, with issues back to 1969 coming soon

Access earlier issues via the 'Past & Future Releases' tab in the above publications.

1991 and 1986 Census publications have also been recently added to the website, with 1981 Census publications currently in the process of being digitised.

CDATA Online seminars

CDATA Online allows you to create and customise your own tables, maps and graphs using 2006 Census data. This product is available free online via the ABS website. Further description is available in the CDATA Online Product Brief.

Free introductory seminars on CDATA Online are available in some capital cities and regional areas. Check the ABS Training Calendar for upcoming scheduled sessions, or contact training@abs.gov.au for further information.

Housing: mirror and mould for Australian society?

The third in a series of essays from the Academy of the Social Sciences based on data from the 2006 Census: Andrew Beer's paper Housing: mirror and mould for Australian society looks at recent housing trends, including affordability, house size, and stay-at-home children.

Other papers in the Census Series include:

• Creative Australia: The Arts and Culture in Australian Work and Leisure


• Lives of Diversity: Indigenous Australia

These papers were released today as part of the NatStats08 Conference in Melbourne. Further papers will be released progressively from March 2009.