1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 1997  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/03/1997   
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MEDIA RELEASE

March 11, 1997
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
24/1997

Year Book Australia 1997 released

The 79th edition of the prestigious Year Book Australia, the principal reference work produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, goes on sale from today.

Year Book Australia provides a comprehensive and detailed statistical review of various aspects of the economy and social conditions in Australia, together with their administrative and legislative background. In addition, it contains descriptive matter dealing with Australia's government, international relations, defence, geography and climate.

Special feature articles in Year Book Australia 1997 include:
  • Government redistribution of income in Australia;
  • Women in Small Business;
  • Household adoption of digital technologies;
  • Understanding the innovation process in manufacturing; and
  • Natural resources in national balance sheets.

The Australian Statistician, Mr Bill McLennan, said the Year Book and other ABS publications drew extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations.

"The continued co-operation of our providers is very much appreciated," he said. "The release of this flagship publication of the ABS is an opportune time to extend thanks and appreciation to those who through the year have helped the ABS collect and publish an extraordinarily large range of data and information."

Mr McLennan said the Year Book deserved its reputation as one of the best single reference works on Australia. The data and explanations were of interest and use to many sectors of the Australian community which relied on good quality information to make informed decisions. Schools also found the Year Book a very useful teaching tool.

In keeping with the Year Book's theme of featuring outstanding Australian Landscapes on the cover, the 1997 edition features Lake Oberon in Tasmania.

The first Official Year Book of the Commonwealth was published in 1908, although individual Australian States and colonies had been producing year books for several decades previously.

Year Book Australia 1997 and Year Book Australia 1997 on CD-ROM (Cat. no. 1301.0) are available at ABS and Government bookshops throughout Australia, at the Recommended Retail Price of $70.00 each. They may also be ordered through ABS Subscriptions on Telephone: 1300 366 323.