Coalition to “save” the ABS

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By Leith van Onselen

In a strange turn of events, the Abbott Government is planning to rescue the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) by merging it with the nation’s health statistics agency – the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) – and injecting $250 million to update the Bureau’s ageing computer system. From The Canberra Times:

The reform effort has been dubbed “Project Archer” and would include the integration of AIHW’s 340 public servants with the ABS’s 2800 workers, with the smaller agency allowed to retain some of its identity.

A target date of July 1 has been set for the merger.

The move would require changes to the AIHW legislative framework but would reunite its public servants with their old boss, Chief Statistician David Kalisch who was CEO of the Institute from 2010 to 2014…

The new funding is understood to be a response to repeated requests from the bureau for money to upgrade its computers, some of which are 40 years old and cannot talk to each other.

Talk about a change of heart from the Government. Less than a year ago – in last year’s May Budget – the ABS was forced to cut its expenditure by $50 million over three years, which led to 100 staff being cut from the Bureau. This followed a $20 million reduction in funding by the former Labor Government.

Now the Abbott Government is planning to inject some $250 million in the agency and merge it with the AIHW – a move that would, according to ABS head David Kalisch, “bring the bureau more money, more staff and a more externally focused culture”.

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Regardless, this is good pragmatic policy making by the Abbott Government. The ABS clearly needs more resources and better systems in order to fulfill its functions properly, and these changes look as if they will do the job.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.