Budget funding supports new data and security uplift

Media Statement
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Released
10/05/2023

Australian Statistician Dr David Gruen AO has welcomed the new investments included in the 2023-24 Budget for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“Last night, the Government announced that the Federal Budget included $172.7 million over the next four years for the ABS to deliver new initiatives,” Dr Gruen said.

The largest part of the funding will allow us to undertake the second phase of the Big Data, Timely Insights program. Building on the success of Phase 1, the next stage of the program will:

  • produce critical new data for decision-makers and the community, including a complete monthly measure of the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
  • continue to modernise and replace legacy IT systems by transitioning key data assets and methods to a secure and scalable cloud environment.

“A complete monthly CPI will better inform monetary and fiscal policy decisions that have a direct impact on all Australians,” Dr Gruen said.

The Budget also allocated $16.4 million over the next four years for the Life Course Data Initiative. This project will access and link new administrative data assets to improve data coverage over the early stages of people's lives with the aim of generating a better understanding of intergenerational disadvantage.

“These Budget outcomes demonstrate the Government’s continuing support for the crucial role we play for the Australian community. The data we collect and the high-quality statistics we produce allow for complex analysis of Australia’s population and economy, reliably informing important decisions that have an impact on everyone’s daily lives,” Dr Gruen said.

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