ABS Corporate Plan

As Australia’s national statistical agency, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) tells Australia’s story through numbers. Our work provides valuable insights into Australia’s population, environment and economy, informing important decisions that have impacts on the daily lives of Australians.

With the 2026 Census just 2 years away, the ABS is developing the critical infrastructure required to ensure a secure and trusted Census. We are engaging with the community to co-design strategies to ensure that the Census is an easy and secure experience for all Australians.

This year we will continue Phase 2 of our major transformation program, Big Data, Timely Insights (BDTI), which is rebuilding core statistical tools and processes in a cloud-based data analytics environment and delivering a complete monthly measure of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). From 2024–25, we will commence building a Business Characteristics Asset to provide tailored, granular and timely insights on Australian businesses.

We continue to use administrative and alternate data sources to generate new insights through data integration initiatives. The ABS is developing new data assets to support the Australian Government’s Competition Review, provide insights into gender-based violence through the Criminal Justice Data Asset and a new Early Childhood Education and Care cost index to track changes in the costs of delivering childcare services over time. The Government has also invested in the ABS to design and conduct an annual social survey to provide timely data on Australia’s wellbeing for the Measuring What Matters Framework.

The ABS is modernising its data acquisition process to respond to long-term declines in survey response rates – a global phenomenon – and to enable a digital-first approach to data collection. We are strengthening our partnerships with states, territories and businesses to explore new data sources, while embracing new technologies, maintaining a strong focus on data security and on enhancing the value of data. 

The ABS Corporate Plan 2024–25 is our key planning document. It provides an overview of the ABS’ operating environment, key priorities, challenges, activities, statistical outputs, and how we will measure our success. 

As the Accountable Authority of the ABS, I am pleased to present the ABS Corporate Plan 2024–25, which covers the period 2024–25 to 2027–28, in accordance with the requirements of section 35(1)(b) of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013. 

I look forward to reporting to the Australian Parliament and the public on our performance in delivering on this Plan in the ABS Annual Report 2024–25. 

Dr David Gruen AO
Australian Statistician