Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity across nine equality categories. Equality and Section 75 statistics support monitoring, analysis and policy development in line with these duties.
Harmonisation of equality statistics
NISRA have produced a Equality Harmonisation document which provides links to Government Statistical Service (GSS) standards and guidance for the collection and reporting of equality statistics across the Section 75 categories, where such standards or guidance exist.
Some GSS guidance is currently under review, and there are currently no GSS standards or guidance available for two of the Section 75 categories. The harmonisation document supports consistency and transparency in how equality data is collected, reported and interpreted.
Equality Matters dashboard
The Equality Matters dashboard brings together official equality related statistics from across the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) in one accessible place. It provides a high level overview of key indicators across Section 75 groups, helping users explore patterns, compare groups and identify areas of inequality.
The dashboard supports policy development, monitoring and engagement by presenting data through clear charts and tables, with the ability to explore information by theme and, where available, geography. All data shown in the dashboard is drawn from official sources published on the NISRA Data Portal.
The Equality Matters dashboard will continue to be developed over time, with additional data and indicators added as they become available.
Programme for Government and equality
Equality is a cross cutting consideration within the Programme for Government (PfG), supporting the aim of improving wellbeing and outcomes for everyone in Northern Ireland.
Equality and Section 75 data can be used alongside PfG indicators to support analysis of how outcomes vary between different population groups and to inform policy development, delivery and monitoring. The Equality Matters dashboard and the PfG Wellbeing Dashboard provide complementary views of this data, drawing on the same underlying official statistics published through the NISRA Data Portal.
Census and equality data
The Census is a particularly rich source of equality data, as it is collected from the whole population at a single point in time. This makes it a valuable resource for understanding the characteristics of different population groups and for exploring equality patterns across small areas.
Census 2021 data is available through the Census Flexible Table Builder, which allows users to create customised tables using a wide range of Census variables and geographies. This tool is well suited to more detailed equality analysis, including analysis across Section 75 characteristics where data is available.
NISRA Data Portal
In addition to the Equality Matters dashboard and Census tools, the NISRA Data Portal provides access to a wide range of official statistics relevant to equality and Section 75 considerations. This includes data on population, health, education, employment, housing, crime, transport and the environment.
Users can explore and download datasets by topic, geography and time period, create simple tables and visualisations, and reuse data for analysis and reporting. This broader range of NISRA data supports more detailed and contextual equality analysis alongside dashboard and Census outputs.
Get in touch
If you have any questions, feedback, or need help finding data, please contact:
info@nisra.gov.uk