DEVELOPMENTS IN ABS STATISTICS

Change to Information Consultancy Services
Indigenous Statistics for Schools
ABS Website Help
2011 Census Remote Indigenous Test
Community Indicators Summit
COAG and the ABS Data Quality Framework


CHANGE TO INFORMATION CONSULTANCY SERVICES

Looking for tailored information from the ABS? The ABS has changed the way it provides its information consultancy service.

Improved access and growth in the availability of free statistics on the ABS website has contributed to a reduced demand for information consultancy services supported by the several ABS offices across Australia. In order to ensure that NT-based clients retain access to an expert service which guarantees quality and responsive outputs, the Information Consultancy service will now be provided by the Western Australian office of the ABS.

Although the NT office has ceased providing a customised data service locally, experienced staff across Australia are available to help you with your data needs and will have access to NT-specific knowledge. If you would like to discuss this change further please contact Debbie Goodwin (Director - Client and Statistical Services, Northern Territory) on (08) 8943 2105.

Information Consultancy services can be accessed by contacting the National Information Referral Service on 1300 135 070 (local call) or contact the WA Information Consultancy team directly on 1800 151 913 (toll free). For Indigenous data requests contact National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics (NCATSIS) on 1800 633 216.

INDIGENOUS STATISTICS FOR SCHOOLS

Indigenous statistics is a new dedicated web resource for schools that provides a single easy resource for students and teachers to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. This resource was developed to assist in building statistical skills and knowledge in schools and covers the importance of Indigenous statistics, Indigenous identification and topics such as population, education, work, housing and health.

ABS WEBSITE HELP

Ever have trouble finding what you need on the ABS website? If so, you'll probably welcome some of the changes we have recently made (and have planned) for the website.

We've improved the Help Index, making it much easier for you to find the specific help you need. We've also added 10 online tutorials covering some of our clients' most frequently asked questions: Navigating and Searching the ABS Website; How to Find Consumer Price Index (CPI) Data; Finding Indigenous Data; Understanding ABS Geography; and a series of six tutorials on Understanding CDATA Online. Each tutorial runs for 3-5 minutes and is a great way to get up to speed with some of the concepts used in the ABS.

More online help is being developed during 2009-10, including a suite of self-help modules on Indigenous topics, aimed at helping those using Indigenous data for research and policy making.


2011 CENSUS REMOTE INDIGENOUS TEST

The ABS has recently completed the successful enumeration of several Top End communities in East Arnhem Land and the Kimberley region in Western Australia as part of a Remote Indigenous Census Test (RIT). The test was conducted in selected communities from 17 August to 11 September 2009 and aimed to trial new interviewer forms and procedures as well as the ABS' Remote Area Mobile Team (RAMT) strategy.

The RAMT strategy, based on the Australian Electoral Commission mobile polling teams, utilises a team-based approach and is designed to shorten the time it takes to count the people in a community, improve Census coverage in remote areas, reduce the under-enumeration of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population group, and increase the quality of Census data.

The remote test follows on from the urban test conducted earlier this year and is the final test before the main dress rehearsal next year. Data collected will be used for test evaluation purposes only. These evaluations assist in determining which strategies and procedures are best able to help improve remote population counts for the 2011 Census.

COMMUNITY INDICATORS SUMMIT

Community-based indicators are becoming a hot topic as the global discussion around developing a measure of well-being beyond an economic gains impetus. The Community Indicators Summit was held in Brisbane on the 22-23 July 2009, focussing on "Measuring the Progress of Australian Communities" and hosted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The Summit was held in cooperation with the OECD-hosted “Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies”. The Summit Outcomes and Declaration will be presented at the 3rd World Forum on Statistics, Knowledge, Policy "Charting Progress, Building Visions, Improving Life", which is being held in Busan, Korea from October 27-30, 2009 (www.oecd.org).

Presentations from the Community Indicators Summit are available at the National Statistical Service (NSS) website.


COAG AND THE ABS DATA QUALITY FRAMEWORK

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council will be using the ABS Data Quality Framework (DQF) to analyse and report on performance indicators for the COAG National Agreements. The latest National Statistical Service (NSS) Newsletter contained the news and provided an excellent summary of the DQF which was released by the ABS in May this year, ABS Data Quality Framework, May 2009 (cat. no. 1520.0).

For assistance with using the data quality framework to assess your datasets, contact the NT Office on 08 8943 2105 or email nt.statistics@abs.gov.au.