Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2005) NN{NN}
Data Element Attributes
Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Element |
|---|---|
| Short name: | Main language other than English spoken at home |
| METEOR identifier: | 304133 |
| Registration status: | Community Services (retired), Superseded 13/10/2011 Health, Superseded 13/10/2011 Housing assistance, Superseded 30/05/2013 |
| Definition: | The language reported by a person as the main language other than English spoken by that person in his/her home (or most recent private residential setting occupied by the person) to communicate with other residents of the home or setting and regular visitors, as represented by a code. |
| Data Element Concept: | Person—main language other than English spoken at home |
| Value Domain: | Language code (ASCL 2005) NN{NN} |
Value domain attributes | ||
Representational attributes | ||
| Classification scheme: | Australian Standard Classification of Languages 2005 | |
|---|---|---|
| Representation class: | Code | |
| Data type: | Number | |
| Format: | NN{NN} | |
| Maximum character length: | 4 | |
Collection and usage attributes | |
| Guide for use: | The Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) has a three- level hierarchical structure. The most detailed level of the classification consists of base units (languages) which are represented by four-digit codes. The second level of the classification comprises narrow groups of languages (the Narrow Group level), identified by the first two digits. The most general level of the classification consists of broad groups of languages (the Broad Group level) and is identified by the first digit. The classification includes Australian Indigenous languages and sign languages. For example, the Lithuanian language has a code of 3102. In this case 3 denote that it is an Eastern European language, while 31 denote that it is a Baltic language. The Pintupi Aboriginal language is coded as 8713. In this case 8 denote that it is an Australian Indigenous language and 87 denote that the language is Western Desert language. Language data may be output at the Broad Group level, Narrow Group level or base level of the classification. If necessary significant Languages within a Narrow Group can be presented separately while the remaining Languages in the Narrow Group are aggregated. The same principle can be adopted to highlight significant Narrow Groups within a Broad Group. |
|---|---|
Data element attributes | |
Collection and usage attributes | |
| Collection methods: | Recommended question: Do you/Does the person/Does (name) speak a language other than English at home? (If more than one language, indicate the one that is spoken most often.) No (English only) ____ Yes, Italian ____ Yes, Greek ____ Yes, Cantonese ____ Yes, Arabic ____ Yes, Mandarin ____ Yes, Vietnamese ____ Yes, Spanish ____ Yes, German ____ Yes, Hindi ____ Yes, Other (please specify) ______________________________ This list reflects the nine most common languages other than English spoken in Australia. Languages may be added or deleted from the above short list to reflect characteristics of the population of interest. Alternatively a tick box for 'English' and an 'Other - please specify' response category could be used. |
|---|---|
| Comments: | This metadata item is consistent with that used in the Australian Census of Population and Housing and is recommended for use whenever there is a requirement for comparison with Census data. This data element is important in identifying those people most likely to suffer disadvantage in terms of their ability to access services due to language and/or cultural difficulties. In conjunction with Indigenous status, Proficiency in spoken English and Country of birth this data element forms the minimum core set of cultural and language indicators recommended by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Data on main language other than English spoken at home are regarded as an indicator of 'active' ethnicity and also as useful for the study of inter-generational language retention. The availability of such data may help providers of health and community services to effectively target the geographic areas or population groups that need those services. It may be used for the investigation and development of language services such as interpreter/ translation services. |
Source and reference attributes | |
| Origin: | Health Data Standards Committee National Community Services Data Committee Australian Bureau of Statistics 2005. Australian Standard Classification of Languages (ASCL) 2005. Cat. no. 1267.0. 2nd Edition, Canberra: ABS. Viewed 29 July 2005. |
Relational attributes | |
| Related metadata references: | Supersedes Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 1997) NN{NN} Community Services (retired), Superseded 29/04/2006 Health, Superseded 08/02/2006 Has been superseded by Person—main language other than English spoken at home, code (ASCL 2011) NN{NN} Children and Families, Superseded 20/01/2021 Community Services (retired), Standard 13/10/2011 Disability, Standard 13/08/2015 Health, Superseded 25/01/2018 Homelessness, Superseded 10/08/2018 Housing assistance, Standard 13/10/2011 See also Person—first language spoken, code (ASCL 2005) NN{NN} Community Services (retired), Superseded 13/10/2011 Health, Superseded 13/10/2011 Housing assistance, Superseded 30/05/2013 See also Person—preferred language, code (ASCL 2005) NN{NN} Community Services (retired), Superseded 13/10/2011 Health, Superseded 13/10/2011 |
| Implementation in Data Set Specifications: | Child protection and support services (CPSS) client cluster Community Services (retired), Standard 30/04/2008 Child protection and support services (CPSS) client DSS Pilot (2010) Community Services (retired), Recorded 19/08/2011 Children's Services NMDS Community Services (retired), Superseded 21/05/2010 Home and Community Care MDS 2009 Community Services (retired), Recorded 16/11/2009 Prison entrants DSS Health, Superseded 28/04/2016 |