The postcode can also be used in association with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) index (Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia (CD-ROM) to derive socio-economic disadvantage, which is associated with cardiovascular risk.

People from lower socio-economic groups are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those from higher socio-economic groups. In 1997, people aged 25 - 64 living in the most disadvantaged group of the population died from cardiovascular disease at around twice the rate of those living in the least disadvantaged group (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2001. Heart, stroke and vascular diseases- Australian facts 2001.).

This difference in death rates has existed since at least the 1970s.

The postcode can also be used in association with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) index (Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia (CD-ROM) to derive socio-economic disadvantage, which is associated with cardiovascular risk.

People from lower socio-economic groups are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those from higher socio-economic groups. In 1997, people aged 25 - 64 living in the most disadvantaged group of the population died from cardiovascular disease at around twice the rate of those living in the least disadvantaged group (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2001. Heart, stroke and vascular diseases- Australian facts 2001.).

This difference in death rates has existed since at least the 1970s.

The postcode can also be used in association with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) index (Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia (CD-ROM) to derive socio-economic disadvantage, which is associated with cardiovascular risk.

People from lower socio-economic groups are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those from higher socio-economic groups. In 1997, people aged 25 - 64 living in the most disadvantaged group of the population died from cardiovascular disease at around twice the rate of those living in the least disadvantaged group (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2001. Heart, stroke and vascular diseases- Australian facts 2001.).

This difference in death rates has existed since at least the 1970s.

The postcode can also be used in association with the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) index (Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia (CD-ROM) to derive socio-economic disadvantage, which is associated with cardiovascular risk.

People from lower socio-economic groups are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease than those from higher socio-economic groups. In 1997, people aged 25 - 64 living in the most disadvantaged group of the population died from cardiovascular disease at around twice the rate of those living in the least disadvantaged group (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) 2001. Heart, stroke and vascular diseases- Australian facts 2001.).

This difference in death rates has existed since at least the 1970s.

In the Child Protection NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of three times:

• the postcode where the child was living at the time of the notification;
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the residential address of the child immediately prior to entering out-of-home care for the first time; and
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area, aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the specific address of the out-of-home care placement.

In the Child Protection NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of three times:

• the postcode where the child was living at the time of the notification;
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the residential address of the child immediately prior to entering out-of-home care for the first time; and
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area, aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the specific address of the out-of-home care placement.

In the Child Protection NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of three times:

• the postcode where the child was living at the time of the contact;
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the residential address of the child immediately prior to entering out-of-home care for the first time; and
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area, aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the specific address of the out-of-home care placement.

In the Child Protection NMDS, this data element is collected a minimum of three times:

• the postcode where the child was living at the time of the contact;
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the residential address of the child immediately prior to entering out-of-home care for the first time; and
• the numeric descriptor for a postal delivery area, aligned with locality, suburb or place and defined by Australia Post for the specific address of the out-of-home care placement.

In the Children's Services NMDS, this data element is only relevant to children who receive in-home child care services. It refers to the child's in-home address. It is used in conjunction with the data element Suburb/town/locality name (person).

In the CSTDA NMDS, this data element refers to the postcode of a service user's usual residence ('usual' means 4 or more days per week on average).

This data element is used in CSTDA to capture the postcode of the 'geographic location' of a person, not their postal address postcode. The CSTDA NMDS collection defines ‘usual’ as where the person usually resides for four or more days per week on average.

In the CSTDA NMDS, this data element refers to the postcode of a service user's usual residence ('usual' means 4 or more days per week on average).

This data element is used in CSTDA to capture the postcode of the 'geographic location' of a person, not their postal address postcode. The CSTDA NMDS collection defines ‘usual’ as where the person usually resides for four or more days per week on average.

For data collection using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) the suggested question is:

What is your postcode?

(Single response)

Enter Postcode

For data collection using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) the suggested question is:

What is your postcode?

(Single response)

Enter Postcode

In the DS NMDS, this data element refers to the postcode of a service user's usual residence ('usual' means 4 or more days per week on average).

This data element is used in NDA to capture the postcode of the 'geographic location' of a person, not their postal address postcode. The DS NMDS collection defines ‘usual’ as where the person usually resides for four or more days per week on average.

In the DS NMDS, this data element refers to the postcode of a service user's usual residence ('usual' means 4 or more days per week on average).

This data element is used in NDA to capture the postcode of the 'geographic location' of a person, not their postal address postcode. The DS NMDS collection defines ‘usual’ as where the person usually resides for four or more days per week on average.

In the DS NMDS, this data element refers to the postcode of a service user's usual residence ('usual' means 4 or more days per week on average).

This data element is used in NDA to capture the postcode of the 'geographic location' of a person, not their postal address postcode. The DS NMDS collection defines ‘usual’ as where the person usually resides for four or more days per week on average.

In the Home and Community Care MDS, this data element refers to the postal code for the geographic location of the person's residence whilst receiving HACC services.

In conjunction with the data element Suburb/town/locality name, the data element Postcode is included in the HACC MDS as a means of reporting information about the geographic location of the residence of a HACC client. The preferred standard for reporting this information is by using a statistical local area (SLA) in conjunction with a state/territory code (see Australian state/territory identifier). However, as some HACC agencies may have difficulty allocating SLA codes to the residential locations of their clients without more computerised assistance than is currently available to them, agencies are given the option of reporting this information by using the lesser standard of Postcode plus Suburb/town/locality name.

The agency should record the postcode for the address at which the person resides while receiving services from the agency. The postcode should not relate to a postal address different from the physical address at which the person is residing.

The Australia Post postcode book is updated more than once a year as postcodes are constantly changing. Agencies should use the most up-to-date postcode book available for the HACC MDS reporting period.

This data element should be recorded for all HACC care recipients at the beginning of each HACC service episode. The agency should also assess the currency of this information at subsequent assessments/re-assessments within any given HACC service episode and should update the agency's record of the client's postcode if necessary.

Reporting requirements:

This data element is an alternative within the HACC MDS collection to reporting the Statistical Local Area (SLA) of the client's residence.

The agency should report the most recent postcode recorded for the client. Information provided by the agency about the client's postcode will be considered to be at least as recent as the Date of last update reported for the person. This is in line with the request that agencies assess and update the information they have about a person's postcode at the beginning of each HACC service episode as well as at subsequent assessments/re-assessments within each HACC service episode.

The HACC MDS Version 2.0 does not include all data elements for full Address information. A complete implementation of Address, including the related data elements, is currently under development in coordination with Standards Australia, ABS, the National Health Data Committee and the National Community Services Data Committee. Once national standards are developed, the HACC MDS will take these standards into account for future versions of the HACC MDS.

This data element refers to the postcode of the client's last known home address prior to coming under the supervision or case management of the agency.

This is to be recorded for each client on entry to each juvenile justice episode.
A question to be asked of juvenile justice clients may be ‘where do you live’ or ‘what was your most recent home address’.
A juvenile justice remand/detention centre should not be recorded as the last known home address. The data item refers to last known home address of the client prior to being held in a centre or on supervision.

In the Notifications, investigations and substantiations (NIS) cluster the data element refers to the postcode where the child was living at the time of the notification.

In the SAAP NMDS, the postcode location of the client's last home is recorded. This is defined as the location where the client last lived in a home in which they were safe, for which they had security of tenure, and that was adequate in terms of the amenities or resources necessary for living.

Guide for use

Additional codes used in the SAAP client data collection are:

Code  9998 overseas

Code  0      don't know/no information

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:

• where the person lived one week before the first service contact (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY); and
• where the person lived the last time they had a permanent place to live.

In the Specialist Homelessness Services NMDS, this data element is reported twice, for:

• where the person lived one week before the first service contact (the Service episode—episode start date, DDMMYYYY); and
• where the person lived the last time they had a permanent place to live.