Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement

There is increasing demand for higher quality data about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to inform key policy initiatives such as Closing the Gap, and to better fulfil ABS’ commitment to return information to the community.

We are dedicated to early and ongoing conversations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to increase the participation in, and relevance of, our statistical collections.

The Centre of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics (CoATSIS) has a leadership and coordination role for national statistical activity about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They engage with communities across a range of statistical activities and outputs such as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and social surveys, the five-yearly Census, administrative data, and data integration projects. The objectives of CoATSIS are to:

• inform Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, organisations, and the wider community about current and emerging statistics and statistical issues related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• provide governments with reliable statistical information on Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population that can be used to support policy development and evaluation
• contribute to national reporting including Closing the Gap
• assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations in the effective use of statistics
• support best practice in the enumeration of statistics related to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and in relevant quantitative methods
• promote improvements in the quality of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics from ABS and other collections, and in the integration of datasets
• ensure that broad consultation with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community remains a priority in the coordination and development of national statistics whilst providing cultural security in all interactions with First Nations peoples.

CoATSIS has a number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement staff based in ABS State and Territory offices throughout Australia to support meaningful engagement with their local communities on ABS work. Their role is to:

• engage with urban, regional and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through collaborative partnerships to increase understanding of, and participation in, ABS collections
• return information to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities including the provision of statistical training to communities in order to increase their access to ABS information
• Improve the quality and relevance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander statistics for key stakeholders including meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Victoria and Tasmania

South Australia

Queensland

New South Wales/ACT

Northern Territory

Western Australia

The Round Table is an advisory group established by the ABS to work with us to improve data quality and engagement with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

The Round Table helps ensure our statistics program is delivering culturally appropriate solutions that meet the information needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities and organisations, as well as reliably informing government policy.

The group also has a focus on increasing participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our statistical collections, including the Census.

Membership is made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with experience in research, policy, service provision and advocacy on issues important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians from urban, regional and remote communities.

Jason Oakley (Chair) 
Sonia Townson (Deputy Chair) 
Aven S Noah 
Dawn Casey 
Dianne Baldock 
Eunice Yu 
Gerry Moore
Laurie Hutchison
Mara West 
Norsiyah Mokak 
Peter Riley
Scott Avery
Sharon Barnes 
Sharon Hayes 
ABS Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Management Unit representative