Collecting Indigenous status information

Overview

Collecting Indigenous status information is a vital aspect of Indigenous statistics and reporting. The ABS standard for collecting Indigenous status information exists to ensure that the information is collected consistently across multiple data collections. Collecting Indigenous status information is a sensitive process and it has been recognised that there are barriers which may prevent  service providers from asking the question and clients from answering. The information provided below answers common questions about collecting Indigenous status information. 

discussed here:
>>Why is it important to know the Indigenous status of clients and patients?
>>How do we find out the Indigenous status of clients and patients?
>>Why is it important to ask the question in this way?
>>What if a person does not want to answer the question?
>>What are the barriers to obtaining information about a person's Indigenous status?

Why is it important to know the Indigenous status of clients and patients?

Making available accurate information about people receiving services is necessary to plan, promote and deliver appropriate health, housing and community services, to monitor changes in wellbeing and to account for government expenditure.

Whether or not a person who is receiving services is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is just one piece of information that may be routinely asked of people who receive community, housing and health services. Other questions that may be asked routinely include: where and when you were born, where you live and what language you speak at home.

These questions provide important information about the people who are using services, and, when compared with other data, may also tell us about people who are not accessing services but who may benefit from these services.

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How do we find out the Indigenous status of clients and patients?

The nationally agreed health and community services data definition and standard can be accessed through METeOR. The agreed standard is summarised below.

To find out the Indigenous status of a person you should ask them: 

Are you of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?

If a person is of both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin, both 'Yes' boxes should be marked. Alternatively, the response option 'Yes, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander' can be included if this suits your data collection practices better.

If you cannot ask the person directly (for example, if they are unconscious), or it is inappropriate to ask the person directly (for example, if the person is a child), it is okay to ask another person who knows the person about whom the question is being asked and feels confident to provide accurate information about them (for example, a spouse or parent).
In this case you should ask the person:

Is [the person's name] of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?

The responses to this question will be the same as shown above.

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Why is it important to ask the question in this way?

The standard question for identifying Indigenous people in health and community services datasets is based on the Indigenous status standard developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It is important that all service providers adopt a consistent way of asking people about their Indigenous status to improve the comparability of data within services and across different types of services. 

For more information, see: The ABS standard question on Indigenous status.

This question should always be used in preference to other questions such as 'What is your cultural identity?' or 'Do you identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?' It is also not acceptable to ask a person if they belong to a specific Indigenous group (e.g. are they Koori or Murri) as an alternative to asking the standard question above because these terms are not inclusive of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and may not result in correct identification. If a service provider also wants to collect information on the specific Indigenous groups to which their clients belong, the standard Indigenous question should always be asked first. Clients or patients who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander can then be asked a follow up question about the specific cultural group(s) with which the person identifies.

The response categories must be able to distinguish between people who identify as being Aboriginal, people who identify as being Torres Strait Islander, and people who identify as both. In order to encourage a response, clients/patients should not usually be provided with an 'unknown' or a 'not stated' option, although this response category can be reported by agencies to record instances where the person chose not to answer. 
In other words, the 'input' data (those recorded on the form or entered directly into the computer) should not include the option 'unknown' or 'not stated'; the 'output' data (those reported by the agency as part of state/territory or national reporting requirements) may include a 'not stated' code.

Indigenous status should never be inferred from the person's appearance - many Indigenous people do not 'look' Indigenous, and some people who 'look' Indigenous may not identify themselves as being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. So, if a person tells you that they are an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander they should be recorded as such even if they do not 'look' Indigenous. Similarly, if a person tells you they are not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander they should be recorded as such even if they 'look' Indigenous.

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What if a person does not want to answer the question?

While all service providers should be encouraged to record Indigenous status routinely in administrative data collections, in most service contexts clients are not obliged to provide this information if they choose not to. In general, clients or patients who initially refuse to provide this information should be reassured that:

• the information will not affect their access to services
• this information is collected on all clients/patients
• it is important information for ensuring that appropriate services are provided, and
• the information will remain confidential.

The client can then be given a further opportunity to answer the question, but again, is not required to do so. 

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What are the barriers to obtaining information about a person's Indigenous status?

There are a range of reasons why a service provider may feel uncomfortable asking a client if they are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander or a client/patient may feel uncomfortable answering the question about their Indigenous status. These include:

• service providers may not wish to appear to be discriminating against Indigenous people (even if it doesn't affect access to services)
• the question may seem silly when the answer may appear to be obvious (especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service providers who may have been assisting the client for some period of time)
• a service provider may feel that the information is intrusive (or that a client/patient may be offended by the question)
• a service provider may feel that they could not explain to a client/patient why the question needs to be asked if the client/patient wanted to know
• a service provider may feel that the question is irrelevant-that they don't have any clients who are Indigenous (or alternatively don't have any clients who are not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander)
• Indigenous people may not feel confident that the information will be kept confidential by the service provider, and
• Indigenous people may feel that they are being 'monitored' or singled out for special attention.

For more information see the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Services Information Plan.

Particular concerns may also arise in specific service environments, where collecting information on the Indigenous status of clients may be seen to be particularly sensitive. For example, in criminal justice environments or child welfare services, where the history of contact by Indigenous people may have led to a distrust of the agencies involved in delivering these services, asking the question about a client's Indigenous status may still be considered highly sensitive.

In other service environments that provide assistance to people in emergency, or crisis, situations (e.g. emergency departments or crisis accommodation programs), it may also be very difficult to ask for information on the Indigenous status of the person given the traumatic nature of events the person may have experienced. In these circumstances, collecting a whole range of information (including whether or not the person is an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander) may appear inappropriate.

However, it is important that every effort is made to provide complete and accurate information on people receiving health and community services. In circumstances where it may be difficult to ask a person if they are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent at the commencement of a service, service providers should try to collect this information at another time or ask another person who is able to speak on the client or patient's behalf. This information is essential if we are to obtain reliable data about the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians that can be used to address inequalities where these exist.

To support staff of health, community and housing assistance services to collect and record this information in a standardised way, a range of resources is available. For more information, see: Resource materials to support Indigenous status reporting.

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Last reviewed by on 23 November 2006