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Introduction

Section 8 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 requires the ABS to provide detail on the structure of the ABS, and how members of the public can gain access to information held by the ABS.

Detail on the structure of the ABS can be found in Chapter 2, Overview of the ABS.

Information held by the ABS

Appendix Table 5.1: Categories of documents in the possession of the ABS

Documents open to public access upon payment of a fee		The ABS does not hold any of these types of documents.
Documents available for purchase or customarily available free of charge		The ABS has a wide range of statistical publications available free-of-charge on its website <https://www.abs.gov.au>, and through major public libraries. Charged publications can be purchased via the ABS National Information Referral Service (Ph: 1300 135 070).
Government and Parliament		The ABS holds policy-related documents, ministerial briefings, ministerial correspondence, replies to parliamentary questions, and tabling documents.
Meetings and conferences		The ABS holds agenda papers, submissions, and records of proceedings of internal and external conferences, management meetings and workshops.
Statistical and statistical services projects		The ABS holds research, development and evaluation papers; records of consultations with suppliers and users of data; statistical classifications; lists of businesses; maps; data collection, processing and publication manuals and instructions; and mailing lists.
Administration and management		The ABS holds work program and planning documents; finance, staff and establishment papers and manuals; personnel files; recruitment files; files on selection and promotion of staff; staff development and training papers; officer services documents; and tenders.
Privacy		The ABS holds a record of the extent and nature of ABS holdings of personal information, as contained in the Personal Information Digest published by the Privacy Commissioner.
General		The ABS holds correspondence, manuals on general subjects, internal reports and administrative circulars.

ABS freedom of information activities

Matters relating to the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 within the ABS are the responsibility of the Office of the Statistician, which is located in Central Office. Authority for decision making under this Act has been delegated to the Deputy Australian Statisticians, the First Assistant Statistician, Corporate Services Division, and the Assistant Statistician, Office of the Statistician.

A significant part of ABS information holdings is information collected under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. This information is exempt from the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

The following table provides details of freedom of information (FOI) activities during the years 2003–04 to 2007–08 inclusive. Three requests were made to the ABS under theFreedom of Information Act 1982 during 2007–08.

Appendix Table 5.2: Freedom of Information Activities, 2003–04 to 2007–08 (number)

Where to get information
Freedom of Information Inquiries

All inquiries concerning access to documents under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 may be directed to the Freedom of Information Contact Officer, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Locked Bag 10, Belconnen, ACT, 2616; Ph: (02) 6252 5559; Email: secretariat@abs.gov.au.

General Information

The ABS offers an initial contact point for all information requests:

Telephone: 1300 135 070
Email: client.services@abs.gov.au
Facsimile: 1300 135 211
Mail: Client Services, ABS, GPO Box 796, Sydney, NSW, 2001.