From the Australian Statistician

Being Australia’s official statistical organisation, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is committed to a better informed Australia.

As the Australian Statistician, I encourage Australians to reflect on the vitally important role that official statistics play in our society. While government use of statistics is of vital importance, 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 nature and extent 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 resource for businesses and the wider community in more general planning and research activities. One of my ongoing goals at the ABS is to continue to increase the level of understanding and use of official statistics within the private sector and more generally in Australian society.

As an organisation, the 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. Our mission is to assist and encourage informed decision-making, research and discussion within governments and the community, by leading a high-quality, objective and responsive national statistical service.

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 ABS has now finished collecting data for the 2011 Census of Population and Housing.The first data release will be in June this year followed by the second and third releases in October 2012 and March 2013 respectively.

This data 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
February 2012