QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY
INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT
For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.
RELEVANCE
The Cultural Funding collection provides estimates of Australian public expenditure on cultural heritage and arts activities, facilities and services funded by the three levels of government. The main users of these data are expected to be government agencies and various community groups with an interest in cultural activities. The collection results will be used to examine the levels of funding by the three levels of government and to monitor changes in funding over time. This information will assist in the planning and allocation of government funding for future programs.
TIMELINESS
The Cultural Funding by Government publication is released on an annual basis with data for each financial year published to the ABS website the following year. For example, data for the 2009-10 financial year was published in August 2011.
ACCURACY
Cultural funding data are subject to non-sampling error. Non-sampling errors are inaccuracies that occur because of imperfections in reporting by respondents, and errors made in coding and processing data. These inaccuracies may occur in any enumeration, whether it be a full count or a sample. An example of non-sampling error affecting the Cultural Funding by Government collection is that funding has to be coded to the various Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications (ACLC) categories by respondents and this may be subjective, with the possibility that different respondents may code similar funding to different categories. Every effort is made to reduce non-sampling error by careful design and testing of survey forms and thorough editing and quality control procedures.
COHERENCE
This collection is conducted on an annual basis and commenced in 1994-95. While seeking to provide a high degree of consistency and data comparability over time is a priority, sound survey practice requires continued maintenance and development to maintain the integrity of data and the efficiency of collections. In line with this, changes were made in 2007-08 to the methodology, scope and coverage of this collection with estimates compiled using information provided directly to the ABS by all in-scope government departments (including selected agencies, authorities and corporations). Prior to the 2007-08 collection, estimates were compiled from administrative by-product data obtained by the ABS from annual reports and budget papers, and from information provided by selected Australian Government authorities and state and territory governments.
Categories used in the Cultural Funding by Government publication have been aligned, where possible, with the Industry Classification of the Australian Culture and Leisure Classifications, 2008 (Second Edition) (cat. no. 4902.0)
INTERPRETABILITY
Statistics for the Australian Government and state and territory governments relate mainly to funding from Australian and state and territory budgets. For some 'off budget' agencies (i.e. agencies which are authorised to operate their own bank accounts), only the funding from annual appropriations is included. Where agency information has not provided appropriate detail to comply with the ACLC categories in this publication, estimates have been used. Any funding from other sources, such as donations, membership costs or entrance fees, is excluded from analysis.
ACCESSIBILITY
Cultural funding data collected by the ABS has previously been available in two publications. The ABS publication Cultural Funding by Government, Australia (cat. no. 4183.0), and an annual report produced by Statistics Working Group (SWG) entitled 'Cultural Funding in Australia: Three Tiers of Government', available for download free of charge from the website www.culturaldata.gov.au. SWG is a joint working group comprising representatives of a number of Australian Government arts agencies and the government arts agencies of New South Wales, Victorian Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. The ABS is also a member of this working group. In 2012 it was decided, in consultation with SWG, to combine the two publications into an expanded version of the Cultural Funding by Government, Australia (cat. no. 4183.0) publication. The 2010-11 collection is the first cycle to be released in this format.
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