[WWW - 2023.07.31]

Data Element Detail

Person-country of birth
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 040161 v5
Data Element
Data Element
Current
20-Oct-2008		Superseded
30-Jun-2012
Standard
01-Jul-2009
30-Jun-2012
The country in which a client was born.
Clinical and administrative purposes and individual identification.
Country of birth
Representational Attributes
Numeric Character
Code
N(4)
4
4
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC)
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

-
Collection and Usage Attributes
Country of birth data should be sourced from or verified against the data in the Corporate Reference Data System (CRDS) maintained by the Health Statistics Centre (HSC).
Should not be blank
Some data collections ask respondents to specify their country of birth. In others, a pre-determined set of countries is specified as part of the question, usually accompanied by an 'other (please specify)' category.

Recommended questions are:
In which country were you/was the client/was (name) born?
Australia
Other (please specify)
Alternatively, a list of countries may be used based on, for example common Census responses.
In which country were you/was the client/was (name) born?
Australia
England
New Zealand
Italy
Vietnam
Scotland
Greece
Germany
Philippines
India
Netherlands
Other (please specify)
Sometimes respondents are simply asked to specify whether they were born in either 'English speaking' or 'non-English speaking' countries but this question is of limited use and this method of collection is not recommended.

If a country no longer exists or has changed name clarification as to the correct code to apply should be sought from the HSC who maintain the statewide reference data for countries.
Based on AS 5017-2006 Health Care Client Identification, Sydney: Standards Australia. Country of birth is important in the study of access to services by different population sub-groups. Country of birth is the most easily collected and consistently reported of a range of possible data items that may indicate cultural or language diversity. Country of birth may be used in conjunction with other data elements for example Period of residence in Australia, to derive more sophisticated measures of access to (or need for) services by different population sub-groups. This metadata item is consistent with that used in ABS collections and is recommended for use whenever there is a requirement for comparison with ABS data. Note that the SACC is mappable to but not identical to Australian Standard Classification of Countries for Social Statistics (ASCCSS).
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 4
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
SupersedesData ElementData ElementCountry of birthQH 040161 Version 4Superseded
Has been superseded byData ElementData ElementPerson-country of birth (SACC 2011)QH 040161 Version 6Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementPerson-preferred language (ASCL 2005 Index)QH 040722 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementPerson-preferred language (ASCL 2005)QH 041586 Version 1Superseded
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

  • 1 - 5
ViewMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifer & VersionObligationApproval StatusEffective FromEffective To
Information AssetData CollectionElective Surgery Data Collection (ESDC)QH 020110 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2012
Information AssetData CollectionEmergency Data Collection (EDC)QH 020159 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2012
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Cancer Registry (QCR) Data CollectionQH 020002 Version 1Superseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2012
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC)QH 020001 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2012
Information AssetData CollectionQueensland Perinatal Data Collection (QPDC)QH 020003 Version 1MandatorySuperseded01-Jul-200930-Jun-2012
Source and Reference Attributes
Country; Nationality;