• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

COORDINATION AND GOVERNANCE

A recurring issue raised by stakeholders across both phases of the NASR consultation was to the coordination and governance mechanisms in the current agricultural statistical system. Stakeholders were united in their concerns on this issue, which encompassed the respective roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, as well as the mechanisms for ensuring that the production and use of statistics was effectively planned and coordinated across the system.

The NASR identified that stakeholders—mostly those in agricultural industries rather than in fisheries and forestry—are not clear about the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders within the agricultural statistics system, including the roles of government, industry and the research sector. The lack of central coordination is perceived to lead to an inefficient use of resources as organisations duplicate effort and/or operate in silos. Communication between different stakeholders was perceived as uncoordinated and fragmented. Particular mention was made of the lack of coordination between state/territory governments and between industry and government and that this is having an impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. The need to recognise the critical role of survey respondents as stakeholders along with statistics producers, users and custodians was also noted. While it was recognised that ABS and ABARES, as the two organisations producing the majority of agricultural statistics used by stakeholders (Table 9 Appendix 4), were best placed to play a leadership role in the agricultural statistics system, this role was not well defined or understood by stakeholders.