Document
Index
Portfolio Budget Statements
Australian Bureau of Statistics
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Index |
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The map on the following page shows the relationship between Government outcomes and the contributing outputs for the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Financial detail for Outcome 1 by output appears in Table 2.2 while non-financial information for Outcome 1 appears in Table 2.3.
| Australian Bureau of
Statistics Statistician: Mr Bill McLennan |
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There is a single government outcome relating to the ABS, defined as `Informed decision
making, research and discussion within Governments and the community based on the
provision of a high quality, objective and responsive national statistical service'.
Table 2.1 shows the relationship between the programme structure for 1998-99 and the new
outcome structure for the 1999-2000 Budget for Outcome 1.
Table 2.1: Relationship between Programme and Outcome Structure for Outcome 1
| Programme Management Budgeting | Accrual Budgeting |
| Programme 3 -- Australian
Bureau of Statistics To assist and encourage informed decision making, research and discussion within governments and the community by providing a high quality, user-oriented and dynamic statistical service. |
Outcome 1 Informed decision making, research and discussion within governments and the community based on the provision of a high quality, objective and responsive national statistical service |
| Sub-programmes Sub-programme 3.1 -- Statistical Operations Sub-programme 3.2 -- Corporate Services |
Output Groups Output Group 1.1 -- Australian Bureau of Statistics -- National Statistical Service |
Appropriations for Programme 3 |
Appropriations for Outcome 1 |
| Sub-programme 3.1 Appropriation Bill 1 Running Costs, including Section 31 receipts (671-1) Appropriation Bill 2 Capital Works and Services, plant and equipment (979-1-01) Sub-programme 3.2 Appropriation Bill 1 Running Costs, including Section 31 receipts (671-1) Other Services -- Compensation and legal expenses (671-2-01) |
Output Group 1.1
Outcome 1 |
Table 2.2 shows how the 1998-99 appropriation and programming structure relates to
total resourcing for Outcome 1.
Table 2.2: Total Resources for Outcome 1
| Estimated Actual | Estimated Actual | Budget |
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| 1998-99 CASH $'000 |
1998-99 ACCRUAL $'000 |
1999-00 $'000 |
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| Price of Agency Outputs Output Group 1.1 -- Australian Bureau of Statistics -- National Statistical Service Output 1.1.1 -- Economic Statistics |
127,069 |
126,112 |
135,735 |
| Output 1.1.2 -- Population and Social Statistics | 122,086 | 125,854 | 135,099 |
| Appropriation
Structure 1998-99 (a) Sub-programme 3.1 -- Statistical Operations Sub-programme 3.2 -- Corporate Services |
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| Subtotal Output Group 1.1 | 249,155 | 251,966 | 270,834 |
| Revenue from Government (Appropriation) for Agency Outputs | 223,095 |
223,669 |
243,716 |
| Revenue from Other Sources | 26,060 | 28,297 | 27,118 |
| Total Price of Outputs | 249,155 | 251,966 | 270,834 |
| Total for Outcome 1 | 249,155 | 251,966 | 270,834 |
| 1998-99 | 1999-00 | ||
Staff Years (Number) |
2,909 | 2,920 |
Official statistics are collected by government to inform debate, decision making and
research both within government and by the wider community. They provide an objective
perspective of the changes taking place in national life and allow comparisons between
periods of time and geographical areas.
Open access to official statistics provides the citizen with more than a picture of
society. It offers a window on the work and performance of government itself, showing the
scale of government activity in every area of public policy and allowing the impact of
public policies and actions to be assessed.
The ABS achieves its outcome by the provision of two outputs: (i) Economic Statistics; and
(ii) Population and Social Statistics.
The economic statistics output contains an extensive range of statistical outputs relating
to the structure and performance of the Australian economy. It provides an objective
source of information that is used by governments and the community to inform their
decisions. For example, economic statistics are used to formulate government macroeconomic
policies, to assist in allocating Commonwealth funds to State Governments, to formulate
industry development policies, in financial and business planning, and in wage
determination.
The population and social statistics output contains statistical outputs relating to the
Australian population, including census and demographic statistics, as well as outputs
relating to the social and economic wellbeing of the population. It provides an objective
source of information that is used by governments and the community to inform their
decisions. For example, census data are used extensively to plan for communities; labour
statistics are used in the formulation of macroeconomic policy and in developing
government labour market policies and programmes; and social statistics are used to
support policy development in areas such as health, social security, taxation, and
community and family services.
Reliable social and economic statistics are fundamental to open government and it is the
responsibility of government to provide them and to maintain public confidence in them.
| Table 2.3: Performance Information 1999-2000 | ||
| Effectiveness -- Overall Achievement of the Outcome | ||
| Informed decision making, research and discussion within governments and the community based on the provision of a high quality, objective and responsive national statistical service. | The
ABS maintains close contact with its users through a variety of mechanisms in order to
understand, and be responsive to, their emerging needs for information. The Australian
Statistician determines which statistics are to be collected, after full discussion with
users, clients and the Australian Statistics Advisory Council, and makes the results
widely available. The statistical programme provides an objective perspective on the
economic and social changes taking place in Australia. In the last decade, the effectiveness of the ABS outcome has been enhanced by improved ABS outputs and methods of dissemination. The ABS has made significant advances in terms of the range, timeliness and quality of its products and services on a resource base that has been essentially static. Increased productivity in the ABS's use of its resources has enabled an increased number of products (covering new subject matter as well as quarterly publications of key indicators that were previously produced annually) and series (such as time series and seasonally adjusted series) to be released to satisfy user demands. Existing products, especially main economic indicators, are released more quickly and using more user friendly dissemination methods, and the relevance, coherence and accuracy of products has been enhanced through adherence to contemporary international standards and by the conduct of major reviews. |
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| Performance Information for Agency Outputs | ||
| Output Group 1.1 -- Australian Bureau of Statistics -- National Statistical Service | ||
| Output
1.1.1 -- Economic Statistics Output 1.1.2 -- Population and Social Statistics |
Detailed
information on performance in terms of ABS outputs is reported in the 1997-98 Annual
Report. Performance information for 1998-99 will be published in the 1998-99 Annual Report
to be tabled in Parliament late in 1999. The ABS is committed to improving the quality of its outputs. It has established a benchmarking network of national statistical agencies to compare output effectiveness and efficiency, to the degree possible, between agencies, and to identify and learn from areas of best practice. Other countries involved in the network are New Zealand, Canada, USA, UK, Sweden and the Netherlands. In addition, ABS is actively pursuing benchmarking comparisons with private sector organisations in the next round. The outputs initially being benchmarked are:
Outputs will be priced and performance assessed in terms of:
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Information on planned evaluation activity that relates to this outcome is in Table 2.3 above and the results will be shown in the ABS Annual Report.
The ABS has a number of performance reviews planned for 1999-2000. These reviews are for activities with expenditures totaling $60 million in 1999-2000, some of which may lead into competitive tendering and contracting reviews.
