Includes:

• Introduction
• Definitions
  • Carer
  • Disability
  • Long Term Health Condition
  • Older Person
• Scope
• Sample Size
• Estimates Based on Statistics

Introduction
The ABS SDAC provides statistics on people with disability, older people and carers across Australia. It includes basic demographic and further lifestyle information, providing the basis for extensive analysis and further production of figures and trends from various Australian research bodies, including the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

It is produced every five years, the most recent being the 2003 SDAC. The data from the previous survey, in 1998, was used to develop a substantial amount of publicly available information and training materials distributed and used by Carers NSW. This document will highlight some of the important aspects of the survey to assist with the accurate and correct use of it by Carers NSW.

Definitions
Carer:
A person of any age who provides any informal assistance, in terms of help or supervision, to persons with disabilities or long-term conditions, or older persons (i.e. aged 60 years and over). This assistance has to be ongoing, or likely to be ongoing, for at least six months. Assistance to a person in a different household relates to 'everyday types of activities', without specific information on the activities. Where the care recipient lives in the same household, the assistance is for one or more of the following activities:

• cognition or emotion
• communication
• health care
• housework
• meal preparation
• mobility
• paperwork
• property maintenance
• self care
• transport.

A primary carer is a person who provides the most informal assistance, in terms of help or supervision, to a person with one or more disabilities. The assistance has to be ongoing, or likely to be ongoing, for at least six months and be provided for one or more of the core activities (communication, mobility and self care). In this survey, primary carers only include persons aged 15 years and over for whom a personal interview was conducted. Persons aged 15 to 17 years were only interviewed.

Note: The data on caring activities (including time spent caring, relationship to main recipient of care and reason for taking on caring role) represents primary carers only. These statistics should not be used, therefore, to represent all carers.

Disability
The survey defines disability as a limitation, restriction or impairment, which has lasted, or is likely to last, for at least six months and restricts everyday activities. It includes difficulties with sight, hearing, speech and breathing. Chronic or recurrent pain, blackouts, fits, learning difficulties are also included, as well as emotional or nervous conditions, physical conditions, disfigurement or deformity, mental illness, head injury, stroke and brain damage.

Note: It is acknowledged in the survey that disability is a difficult concept to measure, particularly in cases where the survey was answered by someone on behalf of the respondent, which may result in underestimates.

Long Term Health Condition
A disease or disorder which has lasted or is likely to last for at least six months; or a disease, disorder or event (eg stroke, poisoning, accident etc) which produces an impairment or restriction which has lasted or is likely to last for at least six months.

Older Person
A person aged 60 years or over.

Scope
The survey was conducted between June and November 2003. It aims to estimate the number of people providing care for older people and people with disabilities. SDAC 2003 covers people in urban and rural areas however it does not include very remote and sparsely settled parts of Australia.

Sample Size
Approximately 14,000 private dwellings, 300 non-private dwelling units and 550 cared accommodation establishments were included in the sample comprising 36,241 people for the household component and 5,145 people for the cared accommodation component (41,386 people in total).

Estimates based on Statistics
As figures are not given on specific population groups (such as Indigenous and culturally and linguistically diverse) the information available may be used to create estimates of population size. It must be acknowledged in any document or information produced by CNSW, however, that such figures are estimates based on the 2003 SDAC, not figures from the SDAC.

For example it is estimated in the 2001 Census that around 2% of the Australian population is Indigenous. Therefore it can be deduced that around 2% of carers are Indigenous. Similarly 20% of the population is CALD so an estimate can be based on that figure. As there is no detailed data for carers of people with mental illness, this estimate cannot be deduced from the ABS statistics.