An experimental snapshot of Australia’s housing landscape has been unveiled using administrative data, providing insights into key housing statistics and trends.
According to the latest data from June 30, 2021, approximately 94% of houses across Australia were recorded in government administrative data sources over the past five years. Out of these, 89% were utilized as primary residences, 9.7% were in use but not as primary residences, and 1.3% showed no recent sign of use. In addition, about 1.3% of houses with electricity data were identified as not recently used.
One interesting finding is that the average daily electricity use was lower in dwellings where the main source of income was the age pension, compared to those receiving disability support pension or wages/salary.
The Administrative Data Snapshot of Population and Housing (ADS) is a new experimental release built from administrative data sources, offering insights into both population and housing characteristics. However, it presents a smaller and distinct set of characteristics compared to the Census.
It’s important to note that the data provided in this release are experimental and not official statistics. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking feedback to further improve this experimental product.
The housing snapshot further highlights various statistics such as the average number of persons per dwelling and median equivalised dwelling income across different states and territories. It also examines dwelling activity, indicating whether a dwelling was in recent use or not.