Queensland Health Information Knowledgebase (QHIK)
[WWW - 2023.07.31]
Home
QH Data Dictionary
Search Metadata Items
Data Elements
Metadata Sets
Information Assets
Data Supply Requirements
Research Portal
Guides/Templates
Metadata Item Templates
Help
Data Element Detail
Back
Help
Show All
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
Representational Attributes
Collection and Usage Attributes
Relational Attributes
Source and Reference Attributes
Person-indigenous status (registration, HBCIS)
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
Identifier & Version
QH 041940 v3
Metadata Item Type
Data Element
Data Element Type
Data Element
Approval Status
Draft
08-Mar-2016
Current
15-Aug-2016
Superseded
17-May-2021
Approval Type
Standard
Approving Authority
Effective From
01-Jul-2016
Effective To
31-Dec-2020
Definition
Whether a person identifies as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
Context
Short Name
Indigenous status (HBCIS)
Name in Other Contexts
Representational Attributes
Datatype
Numeric
Representation Class
Code
Format
N(2)
Minimum Character Length
2
Maximum Character Length
2
Permissible Values
Permissible_values
Code
Description
11
Aboriginal not Torres Strait Islander
12
Torres Strait Islander not Aboriginal
13
Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
14
Neither Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
Search
Supplementary Values
Supplemenary_values
Code
Description
29
Not stated/unknown - no follow-up required
39
Not stated/unknown - follow-up required
Search
Collection and Usage Attributes
Guide for Use
Code 29 Not stated/unknown - no follow-up required
Use this code when the client has declined to respond.
Code 39 Not stated/unknown - follow-up required
Includes situations where it was impossible for the question to be asked during the contact episode and other situations where the response was left blank or incomplete.
Although provision is made for recording unknown Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin every effort should be made to determine and record a person's Indigenous status.
New
Verification Rules
Should not be null.
Collection Methods
This metadata item is based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) standard for Indigenous status. For detailed advice on its use and application please refer to the ABS website as indicated in the Reference documents.
The Indigenous status question allows for more than one response. The procedure for coding multiple responses is as follows:
- If the respondent answers 'Yes, Aboriginal' and 'Yes, Torres Strait Islander', then their response should be coded to 'Yes, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin'.
- If the respondent answers 'No' and one or more of the following:
- 'Yes, Aboriginal'
- 'Yes, Torres Strait Islander'
- 'Yes, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander'
then the response should be coded to 'Not stated/unknown' if the response cannot be clarified with the respondent.
The following information provides advice on the recommended way to ask the Indigenous status question.
Self-enumerated collections
For self-enumerated collections (for example, self-completed questionnaires or forms), the following question is recommended:
[Are you] [Is the person] [Is (name)] of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
- No
- Yes, Aboriginal
- Yes, Torres Strait Islander
If [you] [the person] [(name)] are of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, answer using both 'Yes' options.
This approach may be problematic in some data collections, for example when data are collected using screen based data capture systems. An additional response category of 'Yes, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' may be included if this better suits the data collection practices of the agency or establishment concerned.
If the Indigenous status question has not been completed on a returned form, this should be followed up and confirmed with the person.
Interviewer-conducted collections
For interviewer-conducted collections in which the Indigenous status of one person is collected, the following question set is recommended:
Q1. Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
- Yes
- No (no more questions)
Q2. Are you of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
- Aboriginal
- Torres Strait Islander
- Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
The first question is used to sequence out non-Indigenous Australians. The second question is used to determine the specific Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin of the person. A benefit of this approach is that the interviewer is not required to prompt the respondent with response categories. The 'Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' response category can be included or excluded in interviewer conducted collections depending on which option best suits the data collection practices of the agency concerned. Including the additional response category ensures that respondents are aware of the option to identify as being of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin.
Various articulations of the standard question are recommended to address the following circumstances:
Person is present and answers
This question wording is recommended where it is known that the person being interviewed is the subject:
Q1. Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
Q2. Are you of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
Person is not present and someone else who knows the person well answers
The following question wording is recommended when another member of the household answers for the person. Examples of such incidents include: parents answering for children, or relatives answering in hospital situations.
Q1. Is [the person] [(name)] of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
Q2. Is [the person] [(name)] of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
Person is deceased and someone else answers on their behalf (for example, death information form)
In these circumstances a close relative or friend should answer. Only if a relative or friend is unavailable should the undertaker or other such person answer. The suggested question wording follows:
Q1. Was [the person] [(name)] of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
Q2. Was [the person] [(name)] of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
Person is an infant and parents answer (e.g. perinatal information form)
In this circumstance it is recommended that parents are asked:
Q1. Is [the baby's] [(name)'s] mother of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
Q2. Is [the baby's] [(name)'s] mother of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
and
Q1. Is [the baby's] [(name)'s] father of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
Q2. Is [the baby's] [(name)'s] father of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
For interview conducted collections in which the Indigenous Status of more than one person is collected from a household representative, the following question set is recommended:
Q1. Is anyone who (usually lives here) (or) (is visiting here) of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
- Yes
- No
Q2. Who are they?
Question 3 is asked of each person identified as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.
Q3. [Are you] [Is (name)] of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin, or both?
- Aboriginal
- Torres Strait Islander
- Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
The first question is used to sequence out households in which no Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people usually live (or are visiting). The second question is used to identify those usual residents (and visitors) of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. This approach eliminates the need to repeatedly ask the Indigenous status question of each individual in a household when data are collected on a single household form. It is particularly advantageous when collecting from areas with a large proportion of households with non-Indigenous Australians.
For both self-enumerated collections and interviewer-conducted collections
The Indigenous status question can be used in circumstances where a close relative, friend, or another member of the household is answering on behalf of the subject. It is strongly recommended that the question be asked directly wherever possible.
When the subject person is not present, the person answering for them should be in a position to do so, that is, this person must know the person about whom the question is being asked well and feel confident to provide accurate information about them.
The Indigenous status question must always be asked regardless of data collectors' perceptions based on appearance or other factors.
The Indigenous status question may only be left unanswered in the following circumstances:
- Where the person declined to answer
- Where the question was not able to be asked because the client was unable to communicate or a person who knows the client was not available.
For Queensland Hospital Admitted Patient Data Collection (QHAPDC) and national reporting of the Person-indigenous status data element the following mapping occurs:
Code 11 Aboriginal not Torres Strait Islander is mapped to code 1 Aboriginal but not Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 12 Torres Strait Islander not Aboriginal is mapped to code 2 Torres Strait Islander but not Aboriginal origin
Code 13 Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is mapped to code 3 Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 14 Not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is mapped to code 4 Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 29 Not stated/unknown - no follow-up required is mapped to code 9 Not stated/unknown
Code 39 Not stated/Unknown - follow-up required is mapped to code 9 Not stated/unknown
This data element is mappable to the Person-indigenous status (registration) data element as follows:
Code 11 Aboriginal not Torres Strait Islander is mapped to code 1 Aboriginal but not Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 12 Torres Strait Islander not Aboriginal is mapped to code 2 Torres Strait Islander but not Aboriginal origin
Code 13 Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin is mapped to code 3 Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 14 Not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is mapped to code 4 Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin
Code 29 Not stated/unknown - no follow-up required is mapped to code 9 Not stated/unknown - no follow-up required
Code 39 Not stated/Unknown - follow-up required is mapped to code 8 Not stated/unknown - follow-up required
Comments
Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples occupy a unique place in Australian society and culture. In the current climate of reconciliation, accurate and consistent statistics about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are needed in order to plan, promote and deliver essential services, to monitor changes in wellbeing and to account for government expenditure in this area.
The purpose of this data element is to provide information about people who identify as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. The following definition, commonly known as 'The Commonwealth definition', was given in a High Court judgement in the case of Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 46 ALR 625. 'An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he or she lives'.
There are three components to the Commonwealth definition:
- descent;
- self-identification; and
- community acceptance.
In practice, it is not feasible to collect information on the community acceptance part of this definition in general purpose statistical and administrative collections and therefore standard questions on Indigenous status relate to descent and self identification only.
This metadata item is based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) standard for Indigenous status. For detailed advice on its use and application please refer to the ABS website as indicated in the Reference documents.
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References
Related Metadata References_IR
Go
Actions
1 - 3
View
Relationship
Metadata Item Type
Metadata Item Subtype
Name
Identifier & Version
Approval Status
Supersedes
Data Element
Data Element
Person-indigenous status (registration, HBCIS)
QH 041940 Version 2
Superseded
Has been superseded by
Data Element
Data Element
Person-Indigenous status (registration, HBCIS)
QH 041940 Version 4
Current
Is mappable to
Data Element
Data Element
Person-indigenous status
QH 040290 Version 5
Superseded
Search
Implementation in Metadata Sets
Implemented
Filter
Actions
Click on any of the column headings to filter and/or sort the list
Current Metadata
Items only
Reset
No Metadata Items
Search
Data Quality Declaration
Source and Reference Attributes
Source Organisation
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
Source Document
METeOR data element: Person-Indigenous status, code N, identifier 602543, Health standard 19/11/2015
https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/602543/meteorItemView/long
Keywords
Aboriginal/Torres strait islander
;
Aboriginality
;
Indigenous status
;
Torres Strait Islander
;