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QUALITY DECLARATION – SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The statistics presented in this release were derived using a combination of data collected directly by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and data coordinated by the National Water Commission (NWC), NSW Office of Water (NOW) and Queensland Water Directorate (QWD).

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 ABS Water Account, Australia (cat. no. 4610.0) is one of the accounts produced by the ABS as part of an environmental accounting system. It consists of supply and use tables (collectively referred to as flow tables) for both physical and monetary volumes. The aim of Water Account Australia is to integrate data from different sources into a consolidated information set making it possible to link physical data on water to economic data, such as that in Australia's National Accounts. Environmental accounts can facilitate analyses of a range of issues including a broader assessment of the consequences of economic growth and implications of environmental policy measures across sectors (for example, regulation, charges and incentives).

Water Account Australia was developed using the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) and the SEEA–Water. SEEA was first published by the United Nations (UN) in 1993 and was elevated to an international standard in 2012. SEEA is a supplementary account to the System of National Accounts 1993. Environmental accounts extend the boundaries of the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework to include environmental resources, which occur outside the economic production and asset boundaries measured by the SNA.

Water Account Australia differs from the recommendations in the SEEA–Water in certain cases where the data is not available to meet these requirements, or it is not considered practical to adhere to the standards.


TIMELINESS

Estimates for Water Account Australia are compiled based on the financial year time frame. The data are sourced from several different collections and administrative sources of data and are generally published within 15-18 months of the end of the reference period.


ACCURACY

Data for Water Account Australia were obtained from several different surveys with varying response rates, sample sizes and imputation methods. The resultant value estimates have been checked against earlier years and relevant other sources, including contact with data providers, to ensure the accuracy of the estimates produced.

Water use data at the ANZSIC subdivision level will not be as accurate as the aggregate level due to the small sample sizes at these levels.


COHERENCE

There have been a number of changes in the data used to compile Water Account Australia since 2008-09. Increased cooperation and assistance from State, Territory and Australian government agencies, as well as with the water providers (including the collection of more detailed information on survey forms), has led to some improvements in the quality of water supply data. Further, the number of ABS surveys feeding into Water Account Australia has decreased from 2008-09, and water use estimates for some industries have been modelled for 2011–12.

While every care has been taken to ensure consistency between 2008–09 and later reference years, the changes between the reference periods need to be interpreted with some caution owing to differences in climate and data sources. Extreme care should be taken when making comparisons to the data included in the editions of Water Account Australia prior to 2008–09. This is particularly the case as the 2006 Australian New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (or ANZSIC 2006) was introduced for the 2008–09 Account.


INTERPRETABILITY

When available, time series data for some estimates from previous releases, are presented in the publication Water Account Australia.

As definitions relating to the supply and use of water are often not consistent between jurisdictions, the ABS has included a glossary of terms to aid understanding. Detailed explanatory notes are provided with each publication to assist users in interpreting and understanding the concepts underlying the data.


ACCESSIBILITY

Data cubes, analysis and commentary from Water Account Australia are available on the ABS website <https://www.abs.gov.au>.