Microburbs
Microburbs API
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Classic docs
Microburbs Property Data API
Suburb - Area Statistics

Need for assistance

GET/v1/suburbs/{suburb_name}/area-stats/need-for-assistance5¢ per call

How many residents need help with everyday activities because of disability, long-term illness or old age, overall and among residents aged 65 and over, for every suburb and council area.

Coverage: About 11,000 suburbs and localities and 545 council areas across Australia, in all states and territories (areas with too few people or homes for reliable figures are left out); one snapshot at 10 August 2021. Current to 2021-08-10. Full description, field list and method: /v1/datasets/need-for-assistance.

Exact suburb identifier required. Exact official suburb name (SAL), e.g. Burwood (NSW) — many suburbs carry a state suffix. If starting from free text or an unverified bare name, first call GET /v1/geocode/suburb?q=<text>, then use the exact data[].area_name it returns. Suburb data endpoints do not guess a state or typo-correct names.

Authorization

Request

The only values you send. Fields under Responses below are what comes back — you never pass those.

Path parameters

suburb_namestringrequired

Exact official suburb name (SAL), e.g. `Burwood (NSW)` — many suburbs carry a state suffix. If starting from free text or an unverified bare name, first call `GET /v1/geocode/suburb?q=<text>`, then use the exact `data[].area_name` it returns. Suburb data endpoints do not guess a state or typo-correct names.

Query parameters

fieldsstringoptional

Comma-separated subset of: total_population, need_assistance_count, need_assistance_pct, no_need_assistance_count, no_need_assistance_pct, need_assistance_not_stated_count, need_assistance_not_stated_pct, total_aged_65_plus, aged_65_plus_need_assistance_count, aged_65_plus_need_assistance_pct. Omit for all.

fromstringoptional

First period to include: 2020, 2020-Q3, 2020-07 or 2020-07-01.

tostringoptional

Last period to include, same formats as `from`.

Responses

Successful Response

application/json
DatasetValuesfields returned to you
datasetstringalways returned

Dataset slug; describe it with /v1/datasets/{slug}.

levelstringalways returned

suburb, lga or block.

areastringalways returned

Canonical name (or mesh-block code) of the area answered.

period_typestringalways returned

snapshot, year, financial_year, quarter or month.

as_ofstring · datealways returned

Date the dataset is current to. Values are never withheld for age; check this instead.

modelledbooleanalways returned

True when the figures are estimates from a model rather than counts or measurements.

fieldsarray of DatasetFieldSeriesalways returned
GET/v1/suburbs/{suburb_name}/area-stats/need-for-assistance
cURL
curl --request GET \
  --url 'https://api.microburbs.com.au/v1/suburbs/Belmont%20North/area-stats/need-for-assistance' \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer test'
Example Responses
{
  "data": {
    "dataset": "need-for-assistance",
    "level": "suburb",
    "area": "Bondi",
    "period_type": "snapshot",
    "as_of": "2021-08-10",
    "modelled": false,
    "fields": [
      {
        "field": "total_population",
        "name": "Total residents",
        "unit": "persons",
        "values": [
          {
            "period": "2021-08-10",
            "period_start": "2021-08-10",
            "value": 10411
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "need_assistance_count",
        "name": "Need assistance with core activities",
        "unit": "persons",
        "values": [
          {
            "period": "2021-08-10",
            "period_start": "2021-08-10",
            "value": 315
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "field": "need_assistance_pct",
        "name": "Need assistance with core activities: share of residents",
        "unit": "%",
        "values": [
          {
            "period": "2021-08-10",
            "period_start": "2021-08-10",
            "value": 3.03
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}
Successful Response200
application/json

About this dataset

About 11,000 suburbs and localities and 545 council areas across Australia, in all states and territories (areas with too few people or homes for reliable figures are left out); one snapshot at 10 August 2021. Current to 2021-08-10; refreshed five-yearly.

What it is

Residents who need someone's help with self-care, getting around or communicating because of a disability, a long-term health condition or old age, as reported on 10 August 2021, for every suburb and council area, for all residents and for residents aged 65 and over.

What it shows

Residents who need assistance, who do not, and who did not say, each as a head-count and as a share of all residents; and the same need among residents aged 65 and over as a share of that age group. Counts and shares are separate fields (for example need_assistance_count and need_assistance_pct).

Why use it

Need for assistance is the standard measure of severe or profound disability in an area. Use it to plan disability, home-care and aged-care services, to place accessible housing or a care facility, to size the market for mobility aids and home modifications, to judge demand for carers, or to add a disability profile to a suburb report. Nationally about 5.8% of residents need assistance, rising to about 18% of those aged 65 and over.

How it is built

Need for assistance is self-reported for the core activities of self-care, mobility and communication. The all-ages base is all residents, including those who did not answer. The 65-and-over fields add the 65 to 74, 75 to 84 and 85 and over age groups. Areas with fewer than 50 people in a base are left out of that part. Our 2021 area statistics, matched to our suburb and council-area names. Figures are a snapshot at 10 August 2021 (the latest full count), so they describe the area then, not today. To protect privacy the source lightly randomises small numbers, so a count of 0, 3 or 6 can be approximate and shares in small areas jump around: check the base field before trusting a percentage. Shares are rounded to two decimals and capped at 100.

Fields

FieldUnitDescription
total_population
Total residents
personsAll residents counted in the area on 10 August 2021, the base for the all-ages shares.
need_assistance_count
Need assistance with core activities
personsNumber of residents in the area who: Need assistance with core activities (2021 snapshot). Small counts are lightly randomised for privacy.
need_assistance_pct
Need assistance with core activities: share of residents
%Need assistance with core activities as a percent of all residents in the area.
no_need_assistance_count
Do not need assistance with core activities
personsNumber of residents in the area who: Do not need assistance with core activities (2021 snapshot). Small counts are lightly randomised for privacy.
no_need_assistance_pct
Do not need assistance with core activities: share of residents
%Do not need assistance with core activities as a percent of all residents in the area.
need_assistance_not_stated_count
Did not state need for assistance
personsNumber of residents in the area who: Did not state need for assistance (2021 snapshot). Small counts are lightly randomised for privacy.
need_assistance_not_stated_pct
Did not state need for assistance: share of residents
%Did not state need for assistance as a percent of all residents in the area.
total_aged_65_plus
Residents aged 65 and over
personsResidents aged 65 and over, the base for the 65-and-over share.
aged_65_plus_need_assistance_count
Need assistance with core activities
personsNumber of residents aged 65 and over in the area who: Need assistance with core activities (2021 snapshot). Small counts are lightly randomised for privacy.
aged_65_plus_need_assistance_pct
Need assistance with core activities: share of residents aged 65 and over
%Need assistance with core activities as a percent of all residents aged 65 and over in the area.