Identifying and definitional attributes | |
Metadata item type: | Data Element |
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Short name: | Sex |
METEOR identifier: | 635126 |
Registration status: | Early Childhood, Standard 24/07/2018 Health, Superseded 15/02/2022 Homelessness, Standard 10/08/2018 Indigenous, Superseded 27/08/2023 Youth Justice, Superseded 23/08/2022 |
Definition: | The distinction between male, female, and others who do not have biological characteristics typically associated with either the male or female sex, as represented by a code. |
Context: | Sex is a core metadata item in a wide range of social, labour and demographic statistics. |
Data Element Concept: | Person—sex |
Value Domain: | Sex code X |
Collection and usage attributes | |
Guide for use: | The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Standard for Sex and Gender Variables includes the following Alternate Code system: M Male F Female X Other For statistical purposes, the following category codes, labels and definitions are preferred: CODE 1 Male Persons who have male or predominantly masculine biological characteristics, or male sex assigned at birth. CODE 2 Female Persons who have female or predominantly feminine biological characteristics, or female sex assigned at birth. CODE 3 Other Persons who have mixed or non-binary biological characteristics (if known), or a non-binary sex assigned at birth. The value meaning of 'Other' has been assigned to Code 3 for this value domain, which replaces 'Intersex or indeterminate' for the superseded value domain Sex code N. Terms such as 'indeterminate', 'intersex', 'non-binary', and 'unspecified' are variously used to describe the 'Other' category of sex. The label 'Other' is used because a more descriptive term has not been widely agreed within the general community. Sex refers to the chromosomal, gonadal and anatomical characteristics associated with biological sex. Where there is an inconsistency between anatomical and chromosomal characteristics, sex is based on anatomical characteristics. |
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Comments: | The ABS will periodically review its Standard for Sex and Gender Variables. This process will specifically investigate the appropriateness of the naming of the 'Other' category. |
Source and reference attributes | |
Submitting organisation: | Australian Youth Justice Administrators (AYJA) |
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Origin: | Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016. Standard for Sex and Gender Variables (Cat. no. 1200.0.55.012). Viewed 26 July 2016. Attorney-General's Department 2015. Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender. Viewed 26 July 2016. |