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GLOSSARY

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) – is a research bureau within the Department of Agriculture providing professionally independent research, analysis and advice for government and private sector decision-makers on significant issues affecting Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) – is Australia’s National Statistical Office, which exists 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.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register (ABSBR) – is a list of organisations which undertake economic activity in Australia. The data on the ABS Business Register is primarily sourced from the Australian Business Register, the Australian Taxation Office and via ABS’ profiling of large, and/or complex businesses.

ABS Data Quality Framework (ABS DQF) – provides standards for assessing and reporting on the quality of statistical information. For further information see the ABS website: The ABS Data Quality Framework

Accessibility – Accessibility is the seventh dimension of quality in the ABS DQF. Accessibility refers to the ease of access to data by users, including the ease with which the existence of information can be ascertained, as well as the suitability of the form or medium through which information can be accessed.

Accuracy – Accuracy is the fourth dimension of the ABS DQF and refers to the degree to which the data correctly describe the phenomenon they were designed to measure.

Administrative data – Administrative data collection is the set of activities involved in the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of statistical data from one or more administrative sources. Administrative data is sourced from an administrative activity and associated records as opposed to survey data collection.

Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) – The statistical geography used and developed by the ABS. It is the framework for understanding and interpreting the geographical context of statistics published by the ABS.

Australian Agricultural Environments (AAE) – A special geography developed for the ABS Land Management Practices Survey. The AAE regions are based on agroecological regions and have been aligned to Statistical Area 2 (SA2) boundaries from the ASGS to make output comparable with other ABS data.

Coherence – Coherence is the fifth dimension of the ABS DQF and refers to the internal consistency of a statistical collection, product or release, as well as its comparability with other sources of information, within a broad analytical framework and over time.

Critical Asset – A data or information asset, which is considered vital to inform the ongoing administration of a work program or an element of a work program.

Data Users – A person, group or organisation involved in accessing and investigating integrated datasets for statistical and research purposes. Data users include academics working in research institutions and employees undertaking research in Commonwealth and state/territory agencies, industry and the community.

Data Producers – Are agencies, government departments, industry and academic groups, involved in the collection, storage, analysis and transformation of data for the production of statistical outputs and the dissemination of those outputs and information describing them.

Data Custodians – Data custodians are stakeholders responsible for managing the use, disclosure and protection of source data used in a statistical data integration project. Data custodians collect and hold information on behalf of a data provider (defined as an individual, household, business or other organisation that supplies data for either statistical or administrative purposes). The role of data custodians may also extend to producing source data, in addition to their role as a holder of datasets.

Detailed statistical asset public submission – Public submissions to NASR, providing detailed information relating to specific statistical assets that currently exist and are being utilised in the statistical information system.

Department of Agriculture – The Australian Government Department of Agriculture leads the development of policy advice and provides services to improve the productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of agriculture, fisheries, forestry and related industries.

Essential Statistical Assets (ESA) for Australia initiative. The aim of the initiative is to allow for effective prioritisation of investment, focus and effort within the NSS, by identifying those essential statistical assets which are critical to decision-making in a complex and sometimes fragmented information environment across Australia.

External Stakeholder – An individual, agency, government department, industry organisation or other organisation with direct interest in agricultural statistics. For the purposes of the NASR, stakeholders are defined as users, producers or custodians of agricultural data.

Government – Refers to Australian and state/territory government unless elsewhere specified.

High level public submission – Public submissions providing answers guided by the five key questions in the ‘How to make a submission’ section of the 7105.0.55.002 – Discussion Paper: Submission Process for the National Agricultural Statistics Review, 2013-14.

Institutional Environment – Institutional Environment is the first dimension of quality in the ABS DQF and refers to the institutional and organisational factors which may have a significant influence on the effectiveness and credibility of the agency producing the statistics.

Interpretability – Interpretability is the sixth dimension of quality in the ABS DQF. Interpretability refers to the availability of information to help provide insight into the data.

NASR – National Agricultural Statistics Review.

National Statistical Service (NSS) – is a community of government agencies led by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, working to build a rich statistical picture in order to better inform Australia. The NSS embraces all levels of government, and includes all official bodies involved in the production and use of official statistics. It also includes custodians of administrative datasets which contribute to official statistics.

Public Submission – The formal process of stakeholders, excluding the Department of Agriculture, ABARES and ABS, submitting comment to the NASR.

Qualitative analysis – Non-numerical examination of supplied textual data

Research and development corporations (RDCs) – are the Australian Government’s primary funding bodies for rural research and development (R&D) in Australia and cover a broad spectrum of agricultural, fisheries and forestry industries.

Relevance – This second dimension of the ABS DQF refers to how well the statistical product or release meets the needs of users in terms of the concept(s) measured, and the population(s) represented.

Respondent – An individual or organisation providing a response to a request for information/data from either an official or non-official body. Respondents may provide information via survey collection (both paper and electronic) or verbal interview collection methods.

Statistical Clearing House (SCH) – was established in 1997 within the ABS to be the central clearance point for business surveys that are run, funded, or conducted on behalf of the Australian Government. The SCH helps minimise the burden of Australian Government surveys on businesses by reducing survey duplication and ensuring that proposed business survey methods and questionnaire designs are fit for purpose.

Statistical Area (SA) – A geographical unit within the ASGS. Their aim is to represent a community that interacts together socially and economically. There are 4 levels of SAs (SA1 to SA4). As an example, SA2s have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 persons, and have an average population of about 10,000 persons. Further information can be found in catalogue 1270.0.55.001 – Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Volume 1

Statistical Cycle – A model comprising of phases of statistical activity for the production of a statistical output. The statistical cycle is comprised of seven phases; planning, content development, data collection, data processing, analysis, dissemination and evaluation.

Statistical data integration – The process of combining information from different administrative and/or survey sources to provide new datasets for statistical and research purposes.

Timeliness – Timeliness is the third dimension of quality in the ABS DQF. Timeliness refers to the delay between the reference period (to which the data pertain) and the date at which the data become available; and the delay between the advertised date and the date at which the data become available (e.g. the actual release date).