Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD)The Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage (IRSAD) summarises information about the economic and social conditions of people and households within an area. This index includes both relative advantage and disadvantage measures.A low score indicates relatively greater disadvantage and a lack of advantage in general. For example, an area could have a low score if there are: many households with low incomes, or many people in unskilled occupations, AND a few households with high incomes, or few people in skilled occupations.A high score indicates a relative lack of disadvantage and greater advantage in general. For example, an area may have a high score if there are: many households with high incomes, or many people in skilled occupations, AND few households with low incomes, or few people in unskilled occupations.IRSAD can be used:as a general measure of advantage and disadvantageto understand disadvantage, and advantageto offset advantage or disadvantage in their analysis.For example, IRSAD may be applicable when the topic being analysed is likely to be affected by both advantage and disadvantage.IRSAD is not recommended for:investigating disadvantage onlycomparing with data that is already included in IRSAD, such as areas with a high proportion of dwellings paying high levels of rent.Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD)The Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) is a general socio-economic index that summarises a range of information about the economic and social conditions of people and households within an area. IRSD only includes measures of relative disadvantage.A low score indicates relatively greater disadvantage. For example, an area could have a low score if there are: many households with low income, or many people without qualifications, and many people in low skilled occupations.A high score indicates a relative lack of disadvantage. For example, an area may have a high score if there are: few households with low incomes, few people without qualifications, few people in low skilled occupations.IRSD can be used:to understand an area's relative disadvantage and lack of disadvantageas a broad measure of disadvantage.For example, IRSD may be applicable when a user wants to allocate funds to disadvantaged areas.IRSD is not recommended for:investigating both advantage and disadvantagecomparing with data that is already included in IRSD, such as areas with a high proportion of households with low incomes.Index of Education and Occupation (IEO)The Index of Education and Occupation (IEO) reflects the educational and occupational level of communities. The education variables reflect educational attainment or if further education is being undertaken. The occupation variables are based on the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO). It classifies the workforce into groups of occupations, skill levels and employment status. Unlike the other indexes IEO does not include any income variables.A low IEO score indicates relatively lower education and occupation levels of people in the area. For example, an area could have a low score if there are: many people without qualifications, or many people in low skilled occupations, or many people unemployed, AND few people with a high level of qualifications or in highly skilled occupations.A high score indicates relatively higher education and occupation status of people in the area in general. For example, an area could have a high score if there are: many people with higher education qualifications or many people in highly skilled occupations, AND few people without qualifications or few people in low skilled occupations.IEO can be used:to understand education and occupation variablesto understand the relationship between income, education, and employment. IEO is not recommended:for investigating disadvantage onlyas a broader measure of advantage and disadvantagefor comparing with data that is already included in IEO, such as unemployment.Index of Economic Resources (IER)The Index of Economic Resources (IER) focuses on the financial aspects of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage, by summarising variables related to income and housing. IER excludes education and occupation variables as they are not direct measures of economic resources. It also excludes assets such as savings or equities which, although relevant, cannot be included as they are not collected in the Census.A low score indicates a relative lack of access to economic resources. For example, an area may have a low score if there are: many households with low incomes, or many households paying low rent, AND few households with high income, or few people who own their home.A high score indicates relatively greater access to economic resources. For example, an area may have a high score if there are: many households with high income, or many people who own their home, AND few low-income households, or few households paying low rent.IER is recommended for understanding an area's access to economic resources (e.g. understanding housing as well as income).IER is not recommended:for investigating disadvantage only as this index measures both advantage and disadvantageas a general measure of advantage and disadvantagefor comparing with data that is already included in IER, such as household income.For more information, please visit: Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), Australia, 2021 | Australian Bureau of Statistics