ESSENTIAL STATISTICAL ASSETS FOR AUSTRALIA Investing in the information that counts most

1. ESSENTIAL STATISTICAL ASSETS FOR AUSTRALIA Investing in the information that counts most Peter Harper 31 May 2012

2. Outline of the Presentation • The ABS role in leading the National Statistical Service • Essential Statistical Assets for Australia (ESA) • Rationale for the initiative • Framework for identifying Essential Statistical Assets • Developing the Preliminary List • Next Steps

4. The NSS Vision

5. Current ABS priorities for pursuing the NSS the transformation of Information Management infrastructure identifying the essential statistical assets for Australia maximising the utilisation of public information assets through statistical data integration and unlocking the statistical potential of administrative datasets supporting improvements to measures used in the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) performance reporting; enabling statistical information to be integrated with location information enhancing the level of statistical capability across Government agencies

6. “The ABS should set out to identify, in a highly consultative way, the key national datasets that are the essential indicators of the state of the nation, regardless of which organisations produce them.” • Allen Report (2004) – Recommendation 1: Areas of duplication and underutilisation Origin of the ESA Initiative

7. Why Identify Essential Statistical Assets? • "To guide Governments' investments in official statistics by prioritising and protecting those statistical assets that are critically important for the nation." • To identify where there are critical information gaps, so that these can be addressed; • To ensure that information (statistics and datasets) are of sufficient quality, and; • To ensure the efficient use of Government resources byidentifying areas of duplication and underutilisation

8. Defining Essential Statistical Assets • “Essential Statistical Assets” are defined as a sub-set of official statistical assets that for their roles and importanceshould be given priority for ensuring high quality and integrity • Satisfy a set of criteria: • i. Application in public policy and service delivery • ii. Importance to key national progress measurement • iii. Domestic electoral or legislative requirement • iv. International reporting obligation and/or critical for international comparability

9. Framework of Official Statistics

10. Essential Statistical Assets for Australia Framework

11. Structure of the Preliminary List • 79 Statistics • 6 Cross-cutting, 28 Economy, 7 Environment, 38 Social • 27 National Custodians; 10 sets of S&T custodians • Sorted into four categories: • Category A: Definitely in • Category B: Probably in • Category C: Possibly in • Category D: Possibly out

12. Essential Statistical Assets for Australia – Definitely ins

13. ESA Initiative – Project Phases • Phase 1 – Identification of the Essential Statistical Assets • Phase 2 – Assessing the Quality of the existing Statistical Assets • Phase 3 – Discussing and determining the priorities for future investment

14. Next Steps for 2012 – Phase 1 March-April May - September September - October November

15. ESA Public Release Process • 29 May – Release of Preliminary List and Consultation Paper on NSS website • 29 and 30 May – Discussion at ASAC and SSF • 31 May – NSS Seminar to launch ESA

16. ESA Initiative – Opportunities to contribute • Existing user group forums • Direct stakeholder engagement • Public submissions

17. Public Submissions • •Do you think this is a useful initiative? • • Are the criteria adequate in identifying what is essential? • • Are there any essential statistics you feel we have omitted? If so, why? • • What are your views on the statistics identified in the “possibly in” and “possibly out” categories? • • Are there any statistics you feel we should remove from the list? If so, why?

18. Contact UsESA Project Team:marie.apostolou@abs.gov.aupaul.romanis@abs.gov.auinquiries@nss.gov.auwww.nss.gov.au