Commonwealth of Australia

Schools Assistance Act 2008

GUIDELINES FOR DETERMINING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES) SCORES 2008

I, JULIA GILLARD, Minister for Education, pursuant to subsection 72(3) of the Schools Assistance Act 2008 (‘the Act’) approve these guidelines for determining socio-economic status (SES) scores for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 72(2) of the Act.

Dated this   17th day of December 2008

_________________________________________

JULIA GILLARD

Minister for Education

1 CITATION

These Guidelines may be cited as the Guidelines for Determining Socio-Economic Status (SES) Scores 2008.

2 AUTHORITY

These Guidelines are approved under subsection 72(3) of the Schools Assistance Act 2008 for the purposes of making a determination under subsection 72(2) of the Act.

3 DATE OF EFFECT

These Guidelines take effect on 1 January 2009.

4 REVOCATION

These Guidelines revoke:

• States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) (SES Scores Guidelines) Approval 2000, which commenced on 1 January 2001 (see F2007B00433) and;
• Amendment No. 1 to the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) (SES Scores Guidelines) Approval 2000, which commenced on 1 January 2008 (see F2007L04281).

The revocation of the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) (SES Scores Guidelines) Approval 2000 and Amendment No. 1 to the States Grants (Primary and Secondary Education Assistance) (SES Scores Guidelines) Approval 2000, does not affect the validity of a payment or decision made under those guidelines.

Commonwealth of Australia

Schools Assistance Act 2008

GUIDELINES FOR DETERMINING SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS (SES) SCORES 2008

Definitions

In these Guidelines, definitions apply as set out in sections 4 to 10 of the Act.  In addition, the following definitions apply:

Australian Bureau of Statistics means the Australian Bureau of Statistics established under section 5 of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975;

CD number, for a CD, means the number attributed to the CD by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the purposes of the Census;

Census means the 2006 Census of Population and Housing conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics;

Census Collection District (or CD) means an area designated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as a Census Collection District for the purposes of the Census;

geocoding, for a student residential address included in a statement of addresses for a non-government school, means the process of assigning that address to a CD;

SES dimension means any of the following dimensions:

(a) Occupation;

(b) Education;

(c) Household Income;

(d) Household Income based on Families with Dependent Children (‘Family Income’);

SES dimension score, for a CD, means a number for a SES dimension rounded to four (4) decimal places.  This number is derived from data for the relevant SES dimension collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the purposes of the Census;

statement of addresses, for a non-government school, means a statement:

(a) that contains student residential addresses for the school for the calendar year specified in the statement; and 

(b) that is provided by the approved authority of the school to the Department;

student residential address, for a non-government school, means the residential address of a student receiving primary education or secondary education at the school other than a student:

(a) who is an overseas student; or

(b) who is receiving primary distance education or secondary distance education at the school.

PART 1:  Non-government schools other than Special Assistance Schools and Special Schools

1.1 SES index

The SES Index, from which the SES scores for schools are derived, comprises the following dimensions - Occupation, Education and Income (½ Household Income / ½ Family Income).

1.2 SES dimension scores

SES dimension scores for CDs for 2009-2012 are derived by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations from Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) 2006 Census data.

1.3 Geocoding of students’ residential addresses

Each student residential address contained in the statement of addresses for a school is to be geocoded unless it is not reasonably practicable to geocode that address.  A minimum of 95 per cent of total student residential addresses must be geocoded in order to calculate a school’s SES score.

1.4 Methodology for calculating a non-government school SES score

1.4.1 The score is based on the four individual dimensions of the SES index for each CD.  The worked example in Table A shows a non-government school SES score calculated using CDs with missing SES dimension scores.

1.4.2 The methodology for calculating a non-government school SES score is as follows:

i.  Take the SES dimension scores of the CD to which each student residential address on a school’s statement of addresses has been geocoded.

ii.  Calculate to four (4) decimal places the average value for each of the SES dimension scores for the CD referred to in sub-section (i) above.  The total for a dimension is averaged only by the number of addresses containing a score for that dimension.  If an address has not been geocoded to a CD, the address is not included in the calculation.

iii.  Calculate the non-government school SES score to four (4) decimal places using the following formula:

iv.  Round the non-government school SES score to the nearest whole number.

For example:  95.4567 is rounded to 95

 95.5123 is rounded to 96.

1.4.3 A practical example of how a non-government school SES score is calculated is shown in Table A.

Table A: Example of calculation of the SES score for a non-government school

PART 2: Special Assistance Schools and Special Schools

2.1 The SES score for Special Assistance Schools and Special Schools will be 85.

PART 3: Majority Indigenous Student Schools

3.1 In a program year in which a school is a Majority Indigenous Student School, the SES score for the school will be 85.