Census and Data Services Group

Teresa Dickinson is the Deputy Australian Statistician leading the Census and Data Services Group.

The Census and Data Services Group is responsible for collecting the data the ABS uses in its work and disseminating the official statistics, data and insights it produces to inform Australia's important decisions. The Group provides statistical infrastructure to support work of the ABS and leads its work to expand and improve data sharing, data integration and microdata access across government. It also leads planning underway for the 2026 Census.

Teresa joined the ABS in April 2018 after four years as a Deputy Government Statistician and Deputy Chief Executive at Statistics New Zealand. At Stats NZ she held a variety of roles, including leading their transformation program, providing statistical infrastructure and – most recently - leading data collection and production of official statistics and insights across economic, social and environmental statistics. This included responsibility for leading their 2018 Census, which was undertaken in March.

During a career spanning 30 years, Teresa has worked in a wide range of statistical and data roles in the public sector including Commonwealth Government (AIHW and ABS previously), Victorian State Government and scientific research (CSIRO). She has over 15 years’ experience at senior executive levels.

Teresa holds Master of Statistics and a Master of Business Administration degrees. She is a University Medallist and Accredited Statistician with the Statistical Society of Australia.

Anders Holmberg is the Chief Methodologist and General Manager of the Methodology Division.

Anders Holmberg joined the ABS in September 2019 as the Chief Methodologist.

Anders has a background as a survey methodologist, developing both theory and practice within data collection methodology, survey sampling theory and register based statistical methods.

Immediately prior to joining the ABS, Anders was the Chief Methodologist at Statistics Norway. He was also the Principal Statistician at Statistics New Zealand from 2014 to 2016, where he worked with traditional censuses and administrative data systems.

In 2012-13, Anders was responsible for the management of the Cambodian Socio-Economic Survey, as well as training staff throughout the statistical value chain. He enjoyed a 13 year career at Statistics Sweden (1999-2012), undertaking a variety of roles. Prior to this, he was a lecturer at Örebro University.

He has a PhD in statistics from Uppsala University with the thesis "Essays on Model Assisted Survey Planning".

Kristen Stone

Program Manager
Methodology Transformation Branch

Paul Schubert

Program Manager
Statistical Methodology Branch

Marcel van Kints is the ABS' Chief Data Officer and General Manager of the Data Strategy, Integration and Services Division. The Division delivers microdata and integrated data services, shapes data governance, and drives data culture change.

Marcel has held various senior positions in the macroeconomic statistics program and has expertise in price statistics. Marcel has complemented his ABS experience with international experience at the United Nations in New York.

Marcel has tertiary qualifications in economics and statistics, and has holds a Masters of Public Administration from the Australian National University. Marcel has authored several conference and academic articles.

Luke Hendrickson

Program Manager
Data Integration and Services Branch

George Holton

Program Manager
Data Solutions Branch

AJ Lanyon

Program Manager
Statistical Infrastructure Branch

Adam Harris*

Program Manager
NDDA and ONDC Support

Duncan Young is the General Manager for the Census Division at the ABS.

As a graduate of computer science and mathematics, Duncan has worked in a wide range of statistical and technology leadership roles over nearly twenty years at the ABS and Statistics New Zealand. Duncan applied his leadership to the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey as program manager, helping successfully deliver the survey within 99 days. Duncan was also the program manager of the 2016 Census of Population and Housing, Australia’s largest logistical exercise, and General Manager of the 2021 Census for the data operations and release of data.

As a General Manager of ABS’ data acquisition functions, Duncan helped steer the ABS operations through the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovative approaches were required to protect staff and the community, while continuing to collect high quality data at a time of great social and economic change. The ABS enabled new, high frequency business and social surveys to understand the impacts of the pandemic and introduced video interviewing as an alternative to face to face collection.

Duncan has delivered technical assistance to the 2009 Vietnam Census, and was part of the UN Statistics Division expert panel for the 2020 round of Censuses. Duncan was also a member of the UK’s Beyond Census 2011 International Review Panel and the International Advisory Panel to the 2014 Myanmar Census. Duncan is currently the ABS’ Executive Sponsor for statistical programs in Indonesia and a member of the Statistics New Zealand 2023 Census Board.

Mark Harding

Program Manager
Census 2026 Branch

John Shepherd is the General Manager leading the National Data Acquisition Division (NDAD) at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The division is responsible for acquiring data for the ABS through a variety of channels including households, businesses, administrative and alternate data sources. NDAD is continually innovating data collection activities and exploring ways to improve provider experience through a user-focused approach to collection design.  

John held a number of senior roles at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), leading significant change programs and projects focused on improving the client experience. John led the implementation of the Single Touch Payroll initiative, enabling employers to report their tax and superannuation information for their employees at the same time as they paid staff. John also played an active role in superannuation reform SuperStream.

John has a Master of Taxation from the University of NSW and is a passionate Movember ambassador and fundraiser for men’s health initiatives. John was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) in the 2022 Australia Day Honours list for his work on Single Touch Payroll.

Sean Crick

Program Manager
National Data Acquisition Centre

Leanne Harmon

Program Manager
Data Acquisition Taskforce

*Individual is acting, temporary or contractor in this role