Tinkering with the Past - Spatializing Historical Census Data in Australia

The Australian population census is now over 100 years old. The capacity to access, analyze and visualize census data is however highly problematic for Australian researchers. Spatial analysis in particular is limited, with digital boundaries for the Australian census dating back only to 1981, despite the existence of census boundary maps dating back to the 1830s.

The Australian Data Archive (ADA) and the Australian Urban Research Institute (AURIN) have been working to improve this access, as part of the Tinker project. With support from the Australian Research Data Commons and the 16 HASS-DEVL project partners, ADA and AURIN have been working to curate and link the tabular census data held at ADA with the spatial analysis environment operated by AURIN, enable access to census data prior to 1991 through the AURIN environment.

This paper describes the project framework, the technical and administrative workflows established as part of the project to integrate ADA and AURIN systems, the census data resources now available, and next steps in the census support. The paper then concludes by outlining the potential for future project - a 250 year profile of the Australian population from colonization in 1770 to the present day.