Person: Given Name, Text X(40)

Guide for use:

A person may have more than one Given name. All given names should be recorded.

The agency or establishment should record the person's full given name(s) on their information systems.

National Community Services Data Dictionary specific:

In instances where there is uncertainty about which name to record for a person living in a remote Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community, Centrelink follows the practice of recording the Indigenous person's name as it is first provided to Centrelink. In situations where proof of identity is required, the name is that recorded on a majority of the higher point scoring documents that are produced as proof of identity.

National Health Data Dictionary specific:

Each individual Given name should have a Given name sequence number associated with it.

Health care establishments may record given names (first and other given names) in one field or several fields. This metadata item definition applies regardless of the format of data recording.

A full history of names is to be retained.

Origin:

National Health Data Committee

National Community Services Data Committee

Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services 1998. Home and Community Care Data Dictionary Version 1.0. Canberra: DHFS

Standards Australia 2002. Australian Standard AS5017-2002 Health Care Client Identification. Sydney: Standards Australia

Comments:

Often people use a variety of names, including legal names, married/maiden names, nicknames, assumed names, traditional names, etc. Even small differences in recording - such as the difference between Thomas and Tom - can make Record linkage impossible. To minimise discrepancies in the recording and reporting of name information, agencies or establishments should ask the person for their full (formal) Given name and Family name. These may be different from the name that the person may prefer the agency or establishment workers to use in personal dealings. Agencies or establishments may choose to separately record the preferred name that the person wishes to be used by agency or establishment workers. In some cultures it is traditional to state the family name first. To overcome discrepancies in recording/reporting that may arise as a result of this practice, agencies or establishments should always ask the person to specify their first given name and their family or surname separately. These should then be recorded as Given name and Family name as appropriate, regardless of the order in which they may be traditionally given.

National Community Services Data Dictionary specific:

Selected letters of the given name in combination with selected letters of the family name, date of birth and sex may be used for <dfn id="meteor.aihw.gov.au:24950:440d78b4a46c4">record linkage </dfn>for statistical purposes only.

National Health Data Dictionary specific:

Health care provider identification DSS and Health care client identification DSS
For the purpose of positive identification or contact, agencies or establishments that collect Given name should also collect Given name sequence number. Given name sequence number is also a metadata item in Australian Standard AS4846-2004 Health care provider identification and is proposed for inclusion in the review of Australian Standard AS5017-2002 Health care client identification. AS5017 and AS4846 use alternative alphabetic codes for Given name sequence number. Refer to the current standards for more details.