Theme 4 - Communication

Statistics

Statistics are collections of quantitative data (eg. percentages, total numbers, ratios) that have often been collected by survey. They can be useful for gaining support for community projects. Statistics can provide factual information about the needs of the community. This means that you can identify gaps in community services and avoid duplicating existing services. In many communities this information is available from the local council.

The main types of quantitative data that you may find are:

• Demographics (characteristics such as age, gender, income level of populations that range from small local to national)
• Workforce (information about the numbers working in a field, their demographics, and future projections of worker availability and need)
• Incidence and prevalence of disease and disease risk factors (the percentage of the population having the disease or risk factors and the numbers of people with the disease)
• Projections (statistics can be used to predict future incidence of a disease, or numbers in a workforce)

Places to find available statistics are:

• Organisations
• Experts
• Local councils
• Libraries
• Websites

Local service centres such as health centres and schools are useful sources of information. The local government directory is also a good starting point.

A useful site for health data is Healthwiz – Australia’s National Social Health Data base.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is a useful resource for gathering statistics.

The ABS site can be difficult to navigate, if you are having trouble locating information, pages 4, 5, and 6 of this Western Australian Government document(pdf) will provide a useful guide.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is Australia's national agency for health and welfare statistics and information.