Statement on sentencing of Mr Christopher Hill (Media Release)

	MEDIA RELEASE
17 March 2015		40/2015

A former Australian Bureau of Statistics employee, Mr Christopher Hill, was sentenced today by Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth of the Supreme Court of Victoria to three years, three months, with parole after two years, for offences under the Criminal Code Act 1995 and Corporations Act 2001.

The ABS commends and thanks the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions for their efforts to prosecute Mr Hill and secure the custodial sentence. This outcome clearly demonstrates that actions such as Mr Hill's, which seriously breached the trust placed in him as an ABS officer, will not go undetected or unpunished.

The arrest and conviction of an ABS staff member for unauthorised disclosure of statistics is unprecedented in ABS history spanning more than 100 years. The ABS will continue to operate with our strong security culture and controls, and is committed to maintaining a strict embargo for the release of statistics to ensure no one can obtain an inappropriate advantage from early access.