Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic
Diversity in Aged Care
Collecting meaningful data is the first step towards the delivery of culturally inclusive aged care.
Unfortunately there is no single measure of cultural diversity that can be used to address all the
requirements of planning and service delivery. It is therefore necessary to draw upon data from
across a number of indicators in order to obtain useful cultural and linguistic statistics.
In the context of aged care collecting cultural and linguistic data is critical in:
Profiling clients/staff
Assessing client needs
Determining the need for language services
Facilitating culturally appropriate service provision
Identifying level of service usage
Assessing client satisfaction
Research
Enabling comparisons with population data through the ABS Population and Household Census
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) identifies a number of indicators for collecting
information on cultural and linguistic diversity as part of the ABS Australian Population and
Household Census These include the following 4 Minimum Core Set of variables:
Country of Birth
Main Language other than English Spoken at Home
Proficiency in Spoken English
Indigenous Status
In addition to this core set of variables, the ABS also identifies the following supporting indicators
as useful measures of cultural and linguistic diversity:
Ancestry
Preferred Language
Birthplace of Parents
First Language Spoken
Languages Spoken At Home
Religious Affiliation
1
Year of Arrival in Australia.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has endorsed these variables as part of their cluster
of CALD indicators within the National Minimum Data Sets with the addition of the following two
indicators:
Indigenous community acceptance
2
Interpreter service required status
As a result of their long-standing work with the aged-care sector, the Centre for Cultural Diversity
in Ageing also recommends the inclusion of the following two variables:
Proficiency in Preferred Language/s
Ethnic Group Membership Self-identification
 2013 – Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Aged Care
Of course the use of any of these indicators in the gathering of CALD statistics would be
determined by individual organisational contexts and requirements. Below is an outline of the key
indicators including an overview and recommendations on their usage by aged care services.
Indicator
Country of Birth
Overview
Country of Birth is one of the
most common demographic
indicators used in Australia.
It serves to identify people
who have migrated to
Australia and provides
pointers to what their cultural
background might be.
Main Language
other than English
Spoken at Home
This indicator is recognised as
one of the most useful general
purpose language variables.3
It is considered to be a
Minimum Data Set variable by
the ABS.
Data on languages spoken in
the home are regarded as an
indicator of 'active' ethnicity
and language use.
This indicator is designed to
ascertain any likely
disadvantage experienced by
persons whose usual language
is not English.
Considerations for use in aged care
This indicator should be considered
in conjunction with other indicators
of ‘CALD background’ and is most
useful when aligned with selfidentified cultural background.
Country of Birth is not always a good
indicator ‘cultural identity’ as many
people may be born in one country
but have lived most of their lives in
another or in a number of countries
Staff and volunteer recruitment
would be well informed by this
indicator – possible shared
languages, traditions and
experiences
Proficiency in
Spoken English
Proficiency in Spoken English
is a variable used to assess the
ability in spoken English of
people whose first language
spoken was a language other
This variable can be a trigger to
identifying the need for an
interpreter and is excellent as a
precursor to a question on
‘Preferred Language’
There could be a number of
languages spoken in a home
Language proficiency may vary from
language to language
Loss of language proficiency may
occur with the onset of dementia
and level of loss may vary between
languages (if more than one spoken)
Including additional variables of
reading and writing skills would
provide guidance on the
development of effective
communication strategies
Staff and volunteer recruitment
would be well informed by this
indicator – possible shared language,
traditions and experiences
It is a key indicator in identifying
potential language barriers to
gaining accessible and equitable
services
It is a key indicator for the possible
 2013 – Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Aged Care
Ancestry
Preferred
Language/s
than English, or who speak a
language other than English at
home.
Data relating to this variable is
used primarily to identify
people who may suffer
disadvantage as a result of a
lack of competence in spoken
English
A measurement of selfassessed level of ability to
speak English based on the
following scale:
1 - Very well
2 - Well
3 - Not well
4 - Not at all
This indicator does not
provide a measure of reading
and writing skills in English.
Ancestry describes the ethnic
heritage of a person, that is,
the ethnic or cultural group to
which a person's forebears
are/were attached.
Ancestry in the Australian
context is problematic as
there are many Australians
with origins and heritage
which do not, in practice,
relate to their current ethnic
identity.
Preferred language/s
(including sign language)
denotes the language most
preferred by the person for
the purposes of
communication.
This is a useful question
additional to ‘Main language
other than English Spoken at
Home’ in that some people
may speak a language within
the home which is not the
language that they prefer to
do business in outside of the
home.
need for language services.
Including additional variables to test
reading and writing skills would
provide a more comprehensive
measure of overall English language
capacity.
Ancestry data alone is not
considered by the ABS to be a
particularly good measure of service
needs and the extent to which
persons from certain backgrounds
are associated with advantage or
disadvantage, and should only be
used as a broad measure of heritage
and ethnicity.4
This can be another excellent
indicator of ‘active cultural identity’
It is an important indicator for
people to state which language they
prefer to do business in and removes
the tendency for presumptions that
can be made based on ‘Main
language spoken at home’. For
instance a couple may speak Russian
to each other in private but want to
speak English when communicating
with staff in aged care services
Including additional variables of
reading and writing skills would
provide guidance on the
development of effective
communication strategies
 2013 – Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Aged Care
Ethnic self-identity
Birthplace of
Parents
Religious
Affiliation
Staff and volunteer recruitment
would be well informed by this
indicator – shared language,
traditions and experiences
Indicators such as Country of
Birth and Main Language
Spoken at Home do not in
themselves serve as a measure
of ethnicity.
Ethnic self-identity can serve
as a more effective indicator of
ethnic group affiliation and
membership.
Birthplace of Parents identifies the country in which a person's
parents were born. This
indicator is used, in association
with other CALD variables to
measure the extent to which
an individual retains their
parents' culture, ethnicity or
language.
It is primarily recommended
for collections that simply seek
to determine whether or not a
person's parents are migrants.
Possible social and spiritual support
would be informed by this indicator
Staff and volunteer recruitment
would be well informed by this
indicator – possible shared
traditions and experiences
The variable Religious
Affiliation is defined as the
religious beliefs and practices
to which a person adheres or
the religious group to which a
person belongs.
Religion can be a very
important part of identity and
with particular implications for
service provision.
As Religious Affiliation is selfassessed, the data cannot give
an objective measure of the
strength of a person's
affiliation with a religion and is
subject to the respondent's
interpretation of the question.
As affiliation alone does not
measure the level of religious
practice, preferences or
requirements, further probing is
required in order to determine
service needs.
An additional probing question
might be ‘Do you have specific
religious preferences or
requirements?’
Such additional probing is critical,
for example, when conducting
needs assessment, care planning
and in palliative care.
Volunteer recruitment and spiritual
support would be well informed by
this indicator
It is useful however in gaining a
broader picture of a person’s
possible heritage and life
experiences and their potential
impact on current values and
attitudes.
 2013 – Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Aged Care
Year of Arrival in
Australia
Year of Arrival in Australia
seeks to identify the year a
person (born outside of
Australia) first arrived in
Australia from another
country, with the intention of
staying in Australia for one
year or more.5
This indicator should only be asked
in conjunction with Country of Birth
and most useful when aligned with
other CALD variables.
Migration to Australia has been
characterised by distinctive waves
and trends. Knowing when a person
migrated can provide insight into a
person’s background and possibly
provide a broader understanding of
potential life experiences.
References
1
2
3
4
5
Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity, (1999) Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No.1289.0,
Canberra.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/274643, Accessed on
1/06/2010
Donato-Hunt C. and Grima K. Counting Diversity: Indicators of Cultural Diversity Used by Drug and Alcohol Workers in Australia
DAMEC Sydney 2009
Standards for Statistics on Cultural and Language Diversity, (1999) Australian Bureau of Statistics Catalogue No.1289.0,
Canberra.
ABS Standard for Year of Arrival in Australia - May 2003
Resources
The following resources can be found at www.culturaldiversity.com.au
2011 Census data
National
Cultural Diversity in Australia - Reflecting a Nation: Stories from the 2011 Census
A snapshot of cultural diversity in Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
2011 SBS Census Explorer
Interactively explore and compare the ABS' 2011 Census data by: language spoken, country of birth, year of
arrival, English proficiency, gender and age, Australian citizenship, religious affiliation, personal &
household income, same-sex status and size of family.
Demographic data for Australia - Top Ten Countries of Birth and Language Spoken at Home
Diversity Health Institute, 2012
Victoria
Population Diversity in Local Councils in Victoria: 2011 Census
State Government Victoria / Victorian Multicultural Commission
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Dataset - Preferred Language Spoken at Home 70+ (Victorian Planning
Regions)
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012
Countries & Languages Spoken
http://www.vits.com.au/we-speak-your-language
This information is intended to provide useful general information regarding countries and the major
languages/dialects/other languages spoken in those countries
Prepared by
Tonina Gucciardo-Masci, Senior Project Officer
 2013 – Collecting Data for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Aged Care