Description: History of changes
October 2024 Please review the following changes carefully to understand their impact on your analysis and reporting. A methodology paper was added to the ‘Data and geography references’ section below to support use of the ACS Heat-Health Risk Indices (Beta). The field alias/label for MINLANG_INDEX_QUINTILES was updated from: ‘Minority and language quintiles’ to ‘Language and culture quintiles’ for consistency purposes. Field descriptions were updated for the following fields for clarity only.
Heat exposure index & Heat exposure quintiles
Housing condition index & Housing condition quintiles
Socioeconomic status quintiles
Household composition quintiles
Language and culture quintiles
Health status quintiles
Vulnerability quintiles
Heat health risk quintiles
Field descriptions were updated for the following fields which may affect the interpretation of the data.
Cool place accessibility index & Cool place accessibility index quintiles
Social connectedness index & Social connectedness quintiles
Healthcare accessibility index & Healthcare accessibility quintiles
Adaptive capacity index & Adaptive capacity quintiles
Overview
*** The beta release of this index provides an opportunity to provide the Australian Climate Service (ACS) with feedback as we work to enhance measures of vulnerability. Availability of this data through this web service is not guaranteed and the data may be subject to change. *** This dataset contains several indices related to risks to human health from heatwaves. The indices were developed for the purpose of developing a National Climate Risk Assessment methodology for the Australian Climate Service (ACS). This data will support decision making on mitigation, preparedness and response options to extreme heat that may reduce hazard exposure and social vulnerability. The indices are intended to be used as one line of evidence and considered along side other data/information about specific places.
Data is provided for the latest year available as at November 2023, for 2021 Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) - Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS), Edition 3 and mapped onto the ABS Australian Population Grid 2022 (APG).
An excel spreadsheet (About the data.xlsx) has been provided with labels and descriptions for each of the data items to assist with interpretation. Links to the source publications are also provided in the spreadsheet. The plain English labels in the spreadsheet may differ slightly from labels in the source publications.
Data considerations
Data is sourced from a wide variety of collections, both ABS and non-ABS. When analysing the data, care needs to be taken as time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope, and coverage can differ across collections.
Index values do not represent a quantity of risk, e.g. an area with a score of 0.25 is not twice as at risk as an area with a score of 0.5. We recommend using the quintiles for general analysis. The indices are constrained by the information available in the source data e.g., the 2021 Census.
The indices are based on a snapshot of Australia in August 2021. The make-up of areas can change over time, which may vary the relative ranking of areas within Australia.
The indices are assigned to areas, not individuals. A relatively higher risk SA2 is likely to contain some people or groups who are relatively lower risk (and vice versa).
Data values have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential data. In some cases, small cells have been randomly altered to zero. Care should be taken when interpreting cells with small numbers or zeros.
Some data values have been converted from one geographical boundary to another in order align to the 2021 SA2 boundaries provided.
Blank data cells indicate where data is not available.
Contact the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
If you have questions, feedback or would like to receive updates about this web service, please email australian.climate.service.support@abs.gov.au. For information about how the ABS manages any personal information you provide view the ABS privacy policy.
Data and geography references Main source data publication: 2021 Census Geographic boundary information: Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Further information: Understanding current and changing heat risk to human health in Australia: Heat-Health Risk Index Methodology Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Service Item Id: 2e076a063313496c88973e980b375d4a
Copyright Text: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)