Contact officer role and responsibilities

As a Contact Officer, you are appointed by your organisation to manage your organisation's members and their use of microdata within your organisation, and to liaise with the ABS on microdata related matters.

The responsibilities of a Contact Officer include: 

• being the primary point of contact with ABS when arranging ABS microdata subscriptions
• arranging payment for organisational access to microdata
• being the primary point of contact with ABS on microdata access matters
• distributing individual basic microdata files that have been provided to registered and approved users within their organisation (see below)
• coordinating the completion of the microdata Responsible Officer Undertaking
• assisting with the coordination of Individual Undertakings and other documentation if required
• coordinating ABS audits of compliance if required
• reviewing and updating microdata access and users within their organisation

It is recommended that organisations have at least two Contact Officers. To add or remove a Contact Officer, contact microdata.access@abs.gov.au.

When users leave your organisation, Contact Officers must ensure that those users no longer have access to any TableBuilder, basic microdata, or any other ABS microdata. Log into Registration Centre and remove users from your organisation. Alternatively, contact microdata.access@abs.gov.au with a list of names and the ABS will remove these users from your organisation.

For Australian organisations, basic microdata is usually provided through MicrodataDownload, where users can securely download any of the files in a choice of file formats.

For access to basic microdata, an organisation must subscribe to MicrodataDownload. All organisation members may then download any of the files in MicrodataDownload directly to their secure environment. Alternatively, Contact Officers may download and distribute basic microdata files to members who are registered in the Registration Centre and joined to the Contact Officers' organisation. Log into Registration Centre to check which users are members of your organisation. By registering and joining your organisation, members are automatically approved to access basic microdata held by your organisation.

Basic microdata may be stored within your organisation's secure network, as long as access is limited to users who are registered in the Registration Centre and joined to your organisation. For further information, see Secure storage of microdata.

If an organisation is provided with an individual basic microdata file, you may, as a Contact Officer, provide access to users who have been approved by the ABS. When providing basic microdata to users (whether from MicrodataDownload or another secure transfer process) you must check that users are registered and joined to your organisation in Registration Centre.

If an international organisation is granted access to specific basic microdata files, Contact Officers must manage the distribution and secure storage of basic microdata within the organisation. Contact Officers may provide access to users who have signed an Individual undertaking and been approved by the ABS.