From the Australian Statistician

Being Australia’s official statistical organisation, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is committed to assisting and encouraging informed decision-making, research and discussion within governments, business and the community.

As the newly appointed Australian Statistician, I encourage Australians to consider the vitally important role that official statistics play in our society. While use by government is obviously very important, it is also true that access to official statistics provides businesses and citizens with a window on the work and performance of government itself. Official statistics show the scale of government activity in every area of public policy, allowing the impact of public policies and actions to be assessed.

They also provide a strategic, but in my opinion – underutilised, resource for businesses and the wider community in more general planning and research activities. One of my goals at ABS will be to improve that level of use.

As an organisation, ABS strives to remain relevant to national needs by collecting the right sort of data, processing it to world-leading standards and delivering information solutions to our many clients. In doing this we strive at all times to minimise the burden on the Australian community by using existing data wherever possible to satisfy new needs and, where this isn’t possible, by using sophisticated methodologies to reduce sample sizes and the time taken to participate in our surveys.

We are deeply committed to encouraging access to our statistics. Our website presents ABS data free-of-charge and is one of the most popular government sites in Australia. We also maintain a National Information and Referral Service to assist members of the public to access our data. More complex data requests can make use of the Customised Data Consultancy which provides expert help on a cost-recovery basis.

The highlight of 2007 for the Australian Bureau of Statistics is the release of the data collected last year in the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. This will provide a wealth of new information for our community and governments as they seek solutions to challenges at both the national and local levels. I encourage you to stay up-to-date with the release details via our website.

Remember, the ABS is well placed to help you take the right steps – with the right information – to make informed decisions.

Please don’t hesitate to contact the ABS if you think we can help.

Brian Pink
May 2007