Spatially consistent annual Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data for Australian statistical areas, 1996-2021

Area of Science:

• Socioeconomic analysis
• Geospatial statistics
• Public health research

Background:

• National census data is vital for area-level socioeconomic insights.
• Infrequent data collection and changing administrative boundaries limit longitudinal analysis.
• Existing census data presents challenges for tracking socioeconomic trends over time.

Purpose of the Study:

• To generate annual, geographically consistent Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) data.
• To provide a solution for longitudinal socioeconomic analysis using Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data.
• To cover the period from 1996 to 2021, addressing data limitations.

Main Methods:

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were employed to harmonize historical spatial data to contemporary boundaries.
• Linear interpolation was utilized to estimate SEIFA values for non-census years.
• Data was standardized to 2021 Statistical Area 1 (SA1) boundaries for consistency.

Main Results:

• A comprehensive dataset of 59,421 Statistical Area 1s (SA1s) was generated, excluding areas with missing SEIFA data.
• The methodology successfully produced annual SEIFA data.
• The resulting data is spatially and temporally consistent from 1996 to 2021.

Conclusions:

• Annual SEIFA data at a small geographic scale effectively addresses challenges in tracking area-level socioeconomic factors.
• Standardizing data across multiple years ensures geographic unit consistency.
• This approach enhances the utility of census data for longitudinal socioeconomic research.