1395.0 - Essential Statistical Assets for Australia, 2014  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/12/2014   
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ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
This publication presents the first ever holistic assessment of Australia’s Essential Statistical Assets (ESA). Following from the identification of the 74 essential statistics on the 2013 ESA list, the quality assessments of ESA presents quality assessment results for the statistics, which have been developed in partnership with each data custodian.

The quality assessment results show that for most of the 74 identified statistics which are critical to decision making in Australia, the essential statistical assets met an acceptable level quality. For example, it was found that 98% of the datasets provided information to help users understand the data and almost all had confidentiality protections in place.

However, there were still areas for improvement identified across most statistics, as well as three essential statistics which were identified as data gaps. For example the quality assessment found that 41% of datasets did not meet the critical frequency required by users and 62% of datasets did not use the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) for spatial disaggregation.

It is important to note that the quality assessments have been made for the purpose of ESA and do not take into account how existing quality may already meet current needs for other purposes. Addressing quality gaps found through ESA quality assessment process is the responsibility of data custodians of the datasets which underpin the statistics on the list.

This publication builds on the work completed in the first phase of ESA which identified the list of 74 essential statistics, published in March 2013. Future phases include identifying the statistical infrastructure which supports the official statistical system and opportunities for further collaboration between government agencies.

The ABS would like to thank everyone who has participated in the ESA for Australia process. The support and assistance of ESA data custodians was of critical importance to the success of the quality assessment process and the statistic assessment results could not have been achieved without their collaboration.

Questions and comments can be directed to:

Director National Statistical Service Leadership Section
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Belconnen ACT 2616
or inquiries@nss.gov.au