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Even though the Census and other ABS surveys, such as the Survey of Income and Housing (cat. no. 6553.0) and Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, 2011-2015 (cat. no. 6524.0.55.002) collect similar data relating to personal income, they are not directly comparable. This is due to differences in scope, collection methodology, the time period the collection relates to, and conceptual differences. It is therefore likely that data from each of these collections will deliver different outcomes making it important for data users to understand the key conceptual differences between each collection in order to most appropriately use it.

The key differences between these collections are outlined in the table below.

Key differences between income data from the Census, Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, and the Survey of Income and Housing
	Census		Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas (EoPI)		Survey of Income and Housing (SIH)
Reference period	9 August 2016		2010/11 – 2014/15 Financial Years		2013-2014 financial year
Scope of collection	All people aged 15 years and over (approximately 20 million people)		People who have earned income and have been recorded by the ATO (approximately 13 million records per year)		A sample of 14,162 households
Collection methodology	People are asked to self-report their income by marking a check box against a pre-defined income range.		Administrative data. Records income to the dollar value.		Interview based
Conceptual differences	Census asks people to include all the income they receive when answering the income question. As the collection is self-reported, it relies on people answering the question (some people do not state an income) and reporting accurately (for example, some people may not consider government pensions or superannuation a source of income, and some people may not report small amounts (e.g. $1-$149))		Income not reported to the ATO is not captured in Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas and the scope of the ATO statistics exclude Government pensions, benefits or allowances. Low income earners, for example those receiving Government pensions and allowances, or those who earned below the tax free threshold (which rose from $6,000 to $18,200 in 2012-13), may not be present in the data, as they may not be required to lodge personal tax forms. Other individuals may not lodge a tax return even if required.		The Survey of Income and Housing has a series of detailed questions asked of every person 15 years and older in the household. This draws out more detail than the Census does about the types and sources of income each person receives. It is likely therefore to better capture small weekly incomes (between $1 and $149 a week) and better identify income from Government payments/supplements, amounts from investments, lump sums, financial assistance from family members outside the household, as well as interest from bank accounts. While the Census asks for usual income, the Survey of Income and Housing collects actual and usual income.
Produced	Every 5 years		Every financial year		Every 2 years

Deriving household and family income

Individual Income data is used to derive the following household and family income variables. This is done by summing each person's income within a dwelling or a family by applying a median value (derived using data from the Survey of Income and Housing) to each of the ranges.

• Total Household Income (weekly)
• Total Household Income as Stated (weekly)
• Equivalised Total Household Income (weekly)
• Household Income Derivation Indicator

• Total Family Income (weekly)
• Total Family Income as Stated (weekly)
• Family Income Derivation Indicator

Further information

A definition of Total Personal Income (weekly) is available in the2016 Census DictionaryFor further explanatory notes to the other ATO supplied Income data sources see,Estimate of Personal Income for Small Areas, 2011-2015
For further information about the concepts, definitions, methodology and estimation procedures used in SIH, please refer toSurvey of Income and Housing, User Guide.
For an analysis of the issues associated with collecting income data via a Census, including comparisons with other data sources, refer toCensus Paper 03/04 - Income, 2001. This analysis was conducted on the 2001 Census data.

Household form questions image

Question 33 as it appeared on the 2016 Census Household Paper Form:

A text only version of the Online Census is available from the Downloads tab.