Person—preferred language, code NN

Identifying and definitional attributes
Metadata item type:	Data Element
Short name:	Preferred language
Synonymous names:	Preferred language
METEOR identifier:	270307
Registration status:	Health, Superseded 08/02/2006
Definition:	The language (including sign language) most preferred by the person for communication, as represented by a code. This may be a language other than English even where the person can speak fluent English.
Data Element Concept:	Person—preferred language

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Representation class:

Code

Data type:

String

Format:

Maximum character length:

Permissible values:

Value	Meaning
00	Afrikaans
01	Albanian
02	Alyawarr (Alyawarra)
03	Arabic (including Lebanese)
04	Armenian
05	Arrernte (Aranda)
06	Assyrian (including Aramaic)
07	Australian Indigenous languages, not elsewhere classified
08	Bengali
09	Bisaya
10	Bosnian
11	Bulgarian
12	Burarra
13	Burmese
14	Cantonese
15	Cebuano
16	Croatian
17	Czech
18	Danish
19	English
20	Estonian
21	Fijian
22	Finnish
23	French
24	German
25	Gilbertese
26	Greek
27	Gujarati
28	Hakka
29	Hebrew
30	Hindi
31	Hmong
32	Hokkien
33	Hungarian
34	Indonesian
35	Irish
36	Italian
37	Japanese
38	Kannada
39	Khmer
40	Korean
41	Kriol
42	Kuurinji (Gurindji)
43	Lao
44	Latvian
45	Lithuanian
46	Macedonian
47	Malay
48	Maltese
49	Mandarin
50	Mauritian Creole
51	Netherlandic
52	Norwegian
53	Persian
54	Pintupi
55	Pitjantjatjara
56	Polish
57	Portuguese
58	Punjabi
59	Romanian
60	Russian
61	Samoan
62	Serbian
63	Sinhalese
64	Slovak
65	Slovene
66	Somali
67	Spanish
68	Swahili
69	Swedish
70	Tagalog (Filipino)
71	Tamil
72	Telugu
73	Teochew
74	Thai
75	Timorese
76	Tiwi
77	Tongan
78	Turkish
79	Ukranian
80	Urdu
81	Vietnamese
82	Walmajarri (Walmadjari)
83	Warlpiri
84	Welsh
85	Wik-Mungkan
86	Yiddish
95	Other languages, not further defined
97	Non verbal, so described (including sign languages e.g. Auslan, Makaton)

Supplementary values:

Value	Meaning
96	Inadequately described
98	Not stated

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:

The classification used in this metadata item is a modified two-digit level version of the ABS classification: Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL).

CODE 07 Australian Indigenous languages, not elsewhere classified

All Australian Indigenous languages not shown separately on the code list are to be coded to 07.

CODE 96 Inadequately described

This code should be used where some information, but insufficient, is provided.

CODE 97 Non verbal, so described (including sign languages e.g. Auslan, Makaton)

All non-verbal means of communication, including sign languages, are to be coded to 97.

CODE 98 Not stated

This code is to be used when no information is provided.

Collection methods:

This information may be collected in a variety of ways. It may be collected by using a predetermined shortlist of languages that are most likely to be encountered from the above code list accompanied by an open text field for 'Other language' or by using an open ended question that allows for recording of the language nominated by the person. Regardless of the method used for data collection the language nominated should be coded using the above ABS codes.

Comments:

The ABS has developed a detailed four-digit language classification of 193 language units which was used in the 1996 Census. Although it is preferable to use the classification at a four-digit level, the requirements of administrative collections have been recognised and the ABS has developed a classification of 86 languages at a two-digit level from those most frequently spoken in Australia. Mapping of this two-digit running code system to the four-digit ASCL is available from ABS. The classification used in this metadata item is a modified version of the two-digit level ABS classification. The National Health Data Committee (NHDC) considered that the grouping of languages by geographic region was not useful in administrative settings. Thus this metadata item includes an alphabetical listing of the 86 languages from the ABS two-digit level classification with only one code for Other languages, not further defined. By removing the geographic groupings from the classification, information about the broad geographic region of languages that are not specifically coded is lost. However, the NHDC considered that the benefits to data collectors gained from simplifying the code listing outweighed this disadvantage.

Source and reference attributes

Reference documents:

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 1997. Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL). Cat. no. 1267.0. Canberra: ABS

Data element attributes

Source and reference attributes

Origin:

National Health Data Committee

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:

Implementation in Data Set Specifications:

All attributes +

Alcohol and other drug treatment services NMDS Health, Superseded 21/03/2006

DSS specific attributes +
*Implementation start date:* 01/07/2005 *Implementation end date:* 30/06/2006

Cardiovascular disease (clinical) DSS Health, Superseded 15/02/2006

Person—preferred language, code NN

Identifying and definitional attributes

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Collection and usage attributes

Source and reference attributes

Data element attributes

Source and reference attributes

Relational attributes

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