PLANNING FOR THE 2008–09 WATER ACCOUNT

Preparations are currently underway for the release of the next Water Account, Australia (cat. no. 4610.0) for the 2008–09 financial year.

As part of the planning for the 2008–09 Water Account, a review of users of the 2004–05 Water Account has been undertaken. The main recommendations were:

• more information on ground and surface water comparisons

• continued focus on the Murray-Darling Basin as a separate region in the publication

• regional disaggregation where possible

• inclusion of time series

Users continue to express a strong interest in an annual Water Account, Australia publication.

Survey activity to support the Water Account, Australia 2008–09 is currently underway. The agricultural sector will again be the focus of ABS survey activity, and an economy-wide business survey is also under development.

With the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) having a new water information role as part of the Australian Governments investment in water security, the ABS is working closely with BoM to minimise duplication of data collection activities.

For further information, contact Dianne Bourke on (02) 6252 6473 or email: dianne.bourke@abs.gov.au