Just scraping the surface: How to get more value out of your AEDC data

Sonia WhiteleyThe Social Research Centre

ARACY Conference, 24th–26th June 2015

Before we start – Questions and notes

• There will be time for questions, although some might need to be ‘on notice’

• This presentation is available (so there’s no need to write anything down unless you feel inspired!)

• The AEDC was formerly known as the Australian Early Development Index, so some references and resources are still referred to or branded as ‘AEDI’.

Before we start – About the SRC

We are a private, for-profit company owned by ANU Enterprise

Our services include:• survey design and

execution, • qualitative research, • survey data

management, • statistical consulting and• analytical reporting.

And our role in the AEDC

• Collection of the AEDC data (the census!) every three years

• Maintaining the AEDC website and AEDC data explorer• Managing the AEDC data holdings (2009, 2012 and 2015)• Creating summary AEDC reports (eg Community & School

Profiles)• Supporting policy makers and practitioners to use the

AEDC data

Presentation overview

1. Special needs children and the AEDC(Why am I hijacking my own presentation?)

2. AEDC data ‘in context’

How is the AEDC data collected?

• Data collection commences in May of a census year (2015!) and concludes in August

• Each teacher has secure access to a list of students in their classes

• AEDC items are completed via an online survey for each student in their first year of school

• Completions are monitored at a student, school and jurisdictional level throughout the collection.

What questions are asked?

What happens after the census finishes?• We download all of the records and remove all AEDC

information from the server• The file is cleaned and checked for duplicates• Community boundary information is confirmed with

the jurisdictions• Each community is examined to maximise the amount of

reportable data and communities• Final files are produced to create the main AEDC data reports• 2015 data to be released in the first half of 2016

The main data reports include:• National reports

– Data on the headline AEDC findings– National and state-based comparisons

• Community profiles– Results for each local community by domain– Demographics and characteristics of children surveyed

• School profiles– Results for schools by domain

What reports are produced?

What about the special needs kids?• They are included in the collection but excluded from

the data set and the reporting frameworks– There is currently no analysis of the special needs children in

the national reports or the community or school profiles– Special needs schools that participate in the AEDC do not

receive a school profile

• Occasionally, this information is analysed, usually at a national level

Number of children with special needs – 2012

State/Territory Male Female Total S/T Male (%)

New South Wales 3,227 1,397 4,624 NSW 69.8

Victoria 2,473 1,019 3,492 VIC 70.8

Queensland 2,148 899 3,047 QLD 70.5

Western Australia 797 314 1,111 WA 71.7

South Australia 875 357 1,232 SA 71.0

Tasmania 180 65 245 TAS 73.5

Australian Capital Territory 180 58 238 ACT 75.6

Northern Territory 133 51 184 NT 72.3

Total 10,013 4,160 14,173 Average 71.9

Percentage of children with special needs – 2012

State/Territory Male (%) Female (%) Total (%)

New South Wales 6.7 3.0 4.9

Victoria 7.1 3.1 5.1

Queensland 6.7 3.0 4.9

Western Australia 4.8 2.0 3.5

South Australia 9.1 3.8 6.5

Tasmania 5.4 2.1 3.8

Australian Capital Territory 7.0 2.5 4.9

Northern Territory 7.4 3.0 5.3

Average 6.8 2.8 4.9

But what do they do for the Canadian EDI?

• Special needs children are not reported on in detail as part of the mainstream Early Development Index reports

• Each community with more than 40 children identified as having special needs receives a supplementary profile

How many communities in Australia ‘qualify’?

• In 2012, 116 (20%) of the 594 AEDC communities had more than 40 children with special needs

• This equates to 4,107 (29%) children of the 14,173 with special needs

• A number of communities have more than 200 children with special needs

• Others have more than 1 in 10 children with special needs

And where are these communities located?

State/Territory Number of communities

New South Wales 39

Victoria 34

Queensland 23

Western Australia 8

South Australia 7

Tasmania 1

Australian Capital Territory 3

Northern Territory 1

Total 116

Why isn’t this information made available?

• Historical reasons?• Resourcing problems?• Belief that the issue is ‘known’ and being addressed?• Concerns that the EDI isn’t appropriate / relevant?

Special needs children and the 2015 AEDC

• The 2015 collection includes special needs children and special schools

• There are currently no plans to provide any reports on these children

• Given the consistency of the findings across collections, it is likely that between four and five per cent of children will be identified as having special needs in 2015

Next steps?

• We need feedback from the sector – let us know if your school or your community would like us to report on children with special needs– What would you like reported?– Why is it important to your school or community?

• Researchers also need to let us know if they have projects that require this data.

Email support@aedc.gov.au or call 1800 092 548

AEDC data in context

• AEDC data was never intended to be analysed in isolation– it is just one piece of the puzzle

• Current reports include a small amount of ABS data • ABS data is also available in the AEDC Data Explorer

– SEIFA– Labour force status– Single parent under 25– Completed Year 12

Contextual data is available online

www.aedc.gov.au/data/data-explorer

Contextual data for 2015

• Planning to retain the current suite of ABS data elements • Discussions have been around what else to include:

– Year of arrival in Australia– Highest level of educational attainment – Family household composition– Household income– Tenure & household time (own vs rent vs social housing)

Other data sources?

• Population level data required – alternative sources?– If sub-population data (e.g. jurisdications, communities) what

about consistency and extra effort required to create, display and update

• Administrative data (e.g. Medicare, Centrelink)– Data quality issues– May or may not require data linkage (lead times)

Next steps?

• We need feedback from the sector – let us know what type of contextual information you need– What else should we use aside from ABS data?– Why is it important to your school or community?

• Researchers also need to let us know if they have projects that require ‘standard’ contextual data

Email support@aedc.gov.au or call 1800 092 548

Thank you!