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Person—date of birth, DDMMYYYY

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:Help on this termData Element
Short name:Help on this termDate of birth
Synonymous names:Help on this termDate of birth
METEOR identifier:Help on this term270391
Registration status:Help on this term
  • Community Services (retired), Superseded 25/08/2005
  • Health, Superseded 04/05/2005
Definition:Help on this termThe date of birth of the person.
Data Element Concept:Person—date of birth

Value domain attributes

Representational attributes

Representation class:Help on this termDate
Data type:Help on this termDate/Time
Format:Help on this termDDMMYYYY
Maximum character length:Help on this term8

Data element attributes

Collection and usage attributes

Guide for use:Help on this term

If date of birth is not known or cannot be obtained, provision should be made to collect or estimate age. Collected or estimated age would usually be in years for adults, and to the nearest three months (or less) for children aged less than two years. Additionally, an estimated date flag should be reported in conjunction with all estimated dates of birth.

For data collections concerned with children's services, it is suggested that the estimated Date of birth of children aged under 2 years should be reported to the nearest 3 month period, i.e. 0101, 0104, 0107, 0110 of the estimated year of birth. For example, a child who is thought to be aged 18 months in October of one year would have his/her estimated date of birth reported as 0104 of the previous year. Again, an estimated date flag should be reported in conjunction with all estimated dates of birth.

Collection methods:Help on this term

Information on date of birth can be collected using the one question:

What is your/(the person's) date of birth?

In self-reported data collections, it is recommended that the following response format is used:

Date of birth: _ _ / _ _ / _ _ _ _

This enables easy conversion to the preferred representational layout (DDMMYYYY).

Estimated dates of birth should be identified by an appropriate estimated date flag to prevent inappropriate use of date of birth data for record identification and/or the derivation of other metadata items that require accurate date of birth information.

Comments:Help on this term

Privacy issues need to be taken into account in asking persons their date of birth.

Wherever possible and wherever appropriate, date of birth should be used rather than age because the actual date of birth allows a more precise calculation of age.

When date of birth is an estimated or default value, national health and community services collections typically use 0101 or 0107 or 3006 as the estimate or default for DDMM.

It is suggested that different rules for reporting data may apply when estimating the Date of birth of children aged under 2 years because of the rapid growth and development of children within this age group which means that a child's development can vary considerably over the course of a year. Thus, more specific reporting of estimated age is suggested.

NHDD specific:

DSS-Health care client identification:

Any new information collection systems should allow for 0000YYYY. (Refer to Standards Australia AS5017-2002 Health Care Client Identification).

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term

National Health Data Committee

National Community Services Data Committee

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:Help on this term
Supersedes PDFDate of birth, version 5, DE, Int. NCSDD & NHDD, NCSIMG & NHIMG, Superseded 01/03/2005.pdf (21.8 KB) No registration status
Has been superseded by Person—date of birth, DDMMYYYY
  • ACT Health (retired), Candidate 19/07/2018
  • Children and Families, Standard 22/11/2016
  • Commonwealth Department of Health, Standard 14/10/2015
  • Community Services (retired), Standard 25/08/2005
  • Disability, Standard 07/10/2014
  • Early Childhood, Standard 21/05/2010
  • Health, Standard 04/05/2005
  • Homelessness, Standard 23/08/2010
  • Housing assistance, Standard 20/06/2005
  • Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, Standard 01/11/2012
  • Indigenous, Standard 11/08/2014
  • National Health Performance Authority (retired), Retired 01/07/2016
  • Tasmanian Health, Standard 31/08/2016
  • WA Health, Incomplete 22/08/2012
  • WA Health, Standard 19/03/2015
  • Youth Justice, Standard 15/02/2022
Implementation in Data Set Specifications:Help on this term
All attributes +

Health care client identificationHealth, Superseded 04/05/2005

DSS specific attributes +

DSS specific information:

Any new information collection systems should allow for 0000YYYY (refer to Standards Australia AS5017-2002 Health Care Client Identification).


Implementation in Indicators:Help on this term
Used as Numerator

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Caesarean section for selected women giving birth for the first time, 2012-2014Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of acute myocardial infarction hospitalisations with coronary angiography per 100,000 people, 35-84 years, 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of cervical loop excision or cervical loop ablation hospitalisations per 100,000 women, aged 15 years and over, 2012-13 to 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of endometrial ablation hospitalisations per 100,000 women, aged 15 years and over, 2012-13 to 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of endometrial ablation hospitalisations per 100,000 women, aged 15 years and over, 2012-13 to 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of endometrial ablation hospitalisations per 100,000 women, aged 15 years and over, 2012-13 to 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Australian Atlas of Healthcare Variation: Number of hysterectomy hospitalisations per 100,000 women, aged 15 years and over, 2014-15Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Standard 07/06/2017

Used as Denomirator

National Core Maternity Indicators: PI 07-Normal (non-instrumental) vaginal birth for selected women giving birth for the first time (2013)Health, Superseded 02/02/2016

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