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Data sources and limitations 

‘A community Portrait of Waverley’ was prepared for Waverley Council by The Public Practice Pty Ltd. The information in this profile summary is based on Basic Community Profile tables generated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) from 2001 Census results. More information about the census is available at the ABS website www.abs.gov.au.

Making sense of the data

There are certain limitations that need to be borne in mind when analysing and comparing demographic data. 

1.       First release data   

While the Community Portrait provides a good overview of basic community characteristics, as first release data, it does not adequately cover Waverley’s diverse social mix and changing demographics. Expanded community profiles will be available from the ABS in May 2003. These profiles feature cross-referenced variables which will ensure a far more detailed analysis of complex community characteristics. 

Average individual incomes, for example, are significantly higher in Waverley than in Sydney. However, income analysed in the context of family types, tenure, weekly rents or housing loan repayments will reveal a far more accurate picture of disposable incomes compared to Sydney. Similarly, the relatively high number of people living alone in Waverley compared to Sydney is an interesting statistic. Cross-referencing lone households with other variables, eg age, income or birthplace adds context and meaning, enabling issues such as social isolation to be more fully explored. Over the next year, Council staff will carry out more complex data analysis to update the demographic profile contained in Council's Social Plan 2000. 

2.       Methodology 

Results may vary from 1996 and 1991 published material due to methodology changes in data collection or dissemination; percentages may not be provided for some results due to very low populations; the effect of rounding and the exclusion of variables (eg "not stated", "not applicable") may result in totals less than 100%; the population total most commonly used in this summary refers to resident population excluding overseas visitors.  

3.       High proportion of ‘not stated’  

The proportion of Waverley residents choosing to withhold information about themselves has significantly increased between 1996 and 2001 (ranging from 11% for ‘birthplace’, 13% for ‘income’ and 18% for ‘languages spoken at home’) and is much higher than for Sydney overall. The higher the number of ‘not stated’ in any data table, the less accurate is the information gained from the data provided in that table.  

For example, in 2001, 11% of people did not state their birthplace, compared to only 6% in 1996. At the same time, the proportion of people born in Australia and born overseas has decreased by three percentage points. This reduction in the number of people born either in Australia or overseas has to be analysed with reference to the increase of people who did not state their birthplace. The question is: does this decrease really indicate that in the 2001 census, Waverley had fewer residents who were born overseas or that more people who were born overseas chose to withhold this information?

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