On 15 March 1974 CA 212, Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics was re-named the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) although the legislation reflecting this change, the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975, was not promulgated until 3 May 1976
(Australian Government Gazette No S23, 5 February 1976). The Act established the ABS as a separate Statutory Authority headed by the Australian Statistician with the status of Permanent Head, responsible to the Treasurer. Date of creation was determined as 15 March 1974 when its present name was adopted. The first Annual Report was published in 1976.

The functions of the Australian Bureau of Statistics are:

(a) to constitute the central statistical authority for the
    Australian Government and, by arrangement with the governments of
    the states, provide statistical services for those governments;  

(b) to collect, compile, analyse and disseminate statistics and  
    related information;
 
(c) to ensure co-ordination of the operations of official bodies in
    the collection, compilation and dissemination of statistics and
    related information, with particular regard to-

      (i) the avoidance of duplication in the collection, by
          official bodies, of information for statistical purposes;
     (ii) the attainment of compatibility between, and the 
          integration of statistics compiled by, official bodies; and
    (iii) the maximum possible utilisation, for statistical purposes,
          of information, and means of collection of information,
          available to official bodies.

(d) to formulate, and ensure compliance with, standards for the 
    carrying out by official bodies, of operations for statistical 
    purposes;

(e) to provide advice and assistance to offical bodies in relation 
    to statistics; and

(f) to provide liaison between Australia on the one hand, and other 
    countries and international organisations on the other hand, in 
    relation to statistical matters.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975 also states that there shall be an Australia Statistician to control the operations of the Bureau. The Statistician is to be appointed by the Governor-General and can hold office for such period, not exceeding seven years, as is specified in the instrument of his appointment but is eligible for re-appointment. 

The first Australian Statistician took up his appointment on 3 May 1976 and was Robert William Cole who was previously First Assistant Secretary, General Financial and Economic Policy Division of the Treasury (Press Release by the Treasurer, 5 Februrary 1976). On 7 March 1977, Cole was replaced by Dr Roy James Cameron (Press Release by the Treasurer, 23 December 1976).

The Census and Statistics Amendment Act 1981 was passed by both Houses of Parliament in May 1981 and was proclaimed on 25 May 1981. This Act incorporated those changes recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission in its report 'Privacy and the Census' which were required for the conduct of the 1981 population census. Some changes of a technical and administrative nature were also made. The Act was amended to clarify that persons such as census collectors and interviewers, employed by the ABS under Census Regulations and Statistics Regulations, together with former officers of the Bureau, were bound by the secrecy provision, and to upgrade substantially the penalty for unauthorised disclosure (1).

In October 1981 the 192nd report of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of Public Accounts titled 'The Collection and Dessemination of Statistics-A Discussion Paper', was tabled in Parliament. This report contained a number of recommendations directly concerning the role and functions of the ABS (2).

The following is a summary of its recommendations:

 1. the co-ordinating powers of the Australian Bureau of Statistics
    be clarified and strengthened, if necessary by amending
    legislation; 

 2. the Bureau of Statistics examine the establishment and
    maintenance of a central register of statistical information
    similar to the Federal Information Locator System introduced in
    the US Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980.

 3. all agencies be required to consult this register and obtain
    Bureau approval before embarking on any statistical collection
    above a level of complexity or size defined by the Bureau;

 4. the Income Tax Assessment Act be amended to allow taxation data
    of businesses, including identifying information, to be made
    available to the Bureau of Statistics; (2.16)

 5. a pilot study using tax data on identified small businesses in a 
    restricted sample (to run concurrently with the present system of
    data collection) should be set up to highlight the advantages and
    problems involved and to test the suitability of taxation data as
    a basis for compilation of economic statistics;

 6. additional socio-economic information be collected in conjunction
    with annual tax returns;

 7. the Brueau should encourage consistency in standard data
    concepts, definitions and classifications of data collected and
    statistics produced;

 8. the Census and Statistics Act be amended to allow for maximum 
    utilisation of the data available, as recommended in the Crisp 
    Report;

 9. administrative or legislative action be taken to ensure that data
    collected by all government agencies is published where
    practicable and/or made available to other users;

10. serious consideration be given to examining Canadian and US 
    initiatives aimed at reducing the paper burden imposed by
    governments with a view to taking similar substantive measures in
    Australia;

11. the Working Group on financial statistics be urged to complete
    its review by the end of 1981;

12. a joint examination of the nature and scope of statistical 
    collections by the Bureau and other governmental agencies be 
    undertaken by a panel comprising officers of the Bureau and
    external users and experts with a view to strengthening the
    coordinating role of the Bureau in the authorisation and review 
     of data collections;

13. an inter-departmental committee, similar to the Standing
    Committee on Statistical Collections advocated in the Crisp
    Report, be established to advise on urgent and important matters
    relating to statistical programs and priorities;

14. charging for Bureau statistical publications be introduced where 
    possible

15. the charging procedures used by Statistics Canada be carefully 
    studied by the Bureau with a view to adopting a similar policy in
    Australia.

The Census and Statistics Amendment Act (No 2) 1981 was passed by both Houses of Parliament in November 1981, had received Royal Assent but, as yet, had not been proclaimed.

This second Amendment Act embodied the results of a thorough re-examination of the legislation, much of which stood as it was drafted in 1905. Successive amendments over the years had resulted in a patchwork of provisions which badly needed integrating. The main purpose of the Act was to authorise, subject to precise safeguards the release of a wider range of information. In addition the opportunity was taken to reframe the Act in modern language and to rectify a number of deficiencies of a technical and administrative nature. The second Amendment Act therefore provided that the Minister could, by means of a written determination, authorise the Statistician to release information of a specific kind under specific conditions. However, no determination could authorise the release of information of a personal or domestic nature in a manner that was likely to enable the identification of any persons. It remained the responsibility of the Statistician, within the specific authorisations, to decide whether or not to release particular figures. In making those decisions he could continue to be guided by an overriding concern to maintain the confidence and trust of respondents to statistical collections. All determinations were to be tabled in the Parliament, published in the Gazette and be subject to disallowance (3).


Sources

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics Annual Report 1981-82, p 17,      
   Parliamentary Paper No 206/1982.
2. Joint Committee of Public Accounts, 192nd Report, The Collection 
   and Dissemination of Statistics - A Discussion Paper, pp 1-28;   
   Parliamentary Paper No 237/1981.
3. Australian Bureau of Statistics Annual Report 1981-82, p 17
Historical agency address
Cameron Offices, Belconnen ACT
Legislation administered
Creation: Commonwealth of Australia Acts No 60 of 1975, Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975