{"id":"C2004A00282","name":"Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975","slug":"australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"60 of 1975","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":24715,"registerId":"commonwealth-C2004A00282-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"Part I","sectionType":"part","heading":"Preliminary","content":"## Part I—Preliminary","sortOrder":0},{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Short title","content":"#### 1 Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975.","sortOrder":1},{"sectionNumber":"2","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commencement","content":"#### 2 Commencement\n\n  This Act shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by Proclamation.","sortOrder":2},{"sectionNumber":"3","sectionType":"section","heading":"Interpretation","content":"#### 3 Interpretation\n\n  In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:\n\n> Bureau means the Australian Bureau of Statistics established by subsection 5(1).\n\n> Chairperson means the Chairperson of the Council holding office under subsection 19(2).\n\n> Council means the Australian Statistics Advisory Council established by section 17.\n\n> member means a member of the Council.\n\n> Statistician means the Australian Statistician referred to in subsection 5(2).","sortOrder":3},{"sectionNumber":"4","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australian Statistician to have functions etc. of Commonwealth Statistician","content":"#### 4 Australian Statistician to have functions etc. of Commonwealth Statistician\n\n  (2) After the commencement of this Act:\n    (a) the Australian Statistician shall:\n    (i) have the functions, powers and duties expressed by any Act, or by any regulations or other instrument made under any Act, to be conferred or imposed on the Commonwealth Statistician; and\n    (ii) have the functions and powers expressed by a law of a Territory, or by any regulations or other instrument made under such a law, to be conferred on the Commonwealth Statistician; and\n    (b) a reference in any Act, in any law of a Territory, or in an instrument under any Act or law of a Territory, to the Commonwealth Statistician shall have effect as if the office of Australian Statistician were a continuation of the office of the Commonwealth Statistician.","sortOrder":4},{"sectionNumber":"Part II","sectionType":"part","heading":"Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Statistician","content":"## Part II—Australian Bureau of Statistics and Australian Statistician","sortOrder":5},{"sectionNumber":"5","sectionType":"section","heading":"Establishment of Bureau and office of Statistician","content":"#### 5 Establishment of Bureau and office of Statistician\n\n  (1) There is hereby established a Bureau to be known as the Australian Bureau of Statistics.\n  (2) There shall be an Australian Statistician.\n  (3) The Bureau shall consist of the Statistician and the staff referred to in subsection 16(1).\n  (4) The Statistician shall control the operations of the Bureau and shall have such other functions, powers and duties as are conferred or imposed upon the Statistician by or under any Act and such other functions and powers as are conferred upon the Statistician by or under any law of a Territory.\n  (5) For the purposes of the finance law (within the meaning of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013):\n    (a) the Bureau is a listed entity; and\n    (b) the Statistician is the accountable authority of the Bureau; and\n    (c) the following persons are officials of the Bureau:\n    (i) the Statistician;\n    (ii) the staff referred to in subsection 16(1);\n    (iii) persons engaged under subsection 16(2); and\n    (d) the purposes of the Bureau include:\n    (i) the functions of the Bureau referred to in section 6; and\n    (ii) the functions of the Statistician referred to in subsection (4) and section 4.","sortOrder":6},{"sectionNumber":"6","sectionType":"section","heading":"Functions of Bureau","content":"#### 6 Functions of Bureau\n\n  (1) The functions of the Bureau are as follows:\n    (a) to constitute the central statistical authority for the Australian Government and, by arrangements with the Governments of the States, provide statistical services for those Governments;\n    (b) to collect, compile, analyse and disseminate statistics and related information;\n    (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:\n    (i) the avoidance of duplication in the collection by official bodies of information for statistical purposes;\n    (ii) the attainment of compatibility between, and the integration of, statistics compiled by official bodies; and\n    (iii) the maximum possible utilization, for statistical purposes, of information, and means of collection of information, available to official bodies;\n    (d) to formulate, and ensure compliance with, standards for the carrying out by official bodies of operations for statistical purposes;\n    (e) to provide advice and assistance to official bodies in relation to statistics; and\n    (f) to provide liaison between Australia, on the one hand, and other countries and international organizations, on the other hand, in relation to statistical matters.\n  (2) For the purpose of the performance of its functions and for the purpose of co‑ordinating statistical activities and securing the observance of statistical standards, the Bureau may collaborate with bodies, being Departments and authorities of the States, the Administrations and authorities of the external Territories and local governing bodies, in the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of statistics, including statistics obtained from the records of those bodies.\n  (3) Subject to subsection (4), each new proposal for the collection of information for statistical purposes by the Bureau shall be laid before both Houses of the Parliament before its implementation, unless the proposal is for the collection of information on a voluntary basis.\n  (4) Where, in relation to a proposal to which subsection (3) is applicable, being a proposal for the collection of information relating to businesses, the Minister considers it necessary to commence implementation of the proposal at a time when it is not practicable to comply with subsection (3) the Minister may authorize the implementation of the proposal without compliance with that subsection but in such a case particulars of the nature of the information to which the authorization relates shall be laid before each House of the Parliament within 5 sitting days of that House after the giving of the authorization.\n  (5) For the purposes of this section:\n    (a) a reference to statistical purposes shall be read as including purposes in connexion with the collection, compilation, analysis and dissemination of statistics; and\n    (b) a reference to an official body shall be read as a reference to:\n    (i) an Agency within the meaning of the Public Service Act 1999; or\n    (ii) the holder of an office established for a public purpose by or under an Act or a law of an internal Territory; or\n    (iii) a body corporate, or other body, established for a public purpose by or under an Act or a law of an internal Territory other than such a body corporate, or other body, that is declared by the regulations not to be an official body for the purposes of this Act.","sortOrder":7},{"sectionNumber":"7","sectionType":"section","heading":"Appointment and tenure of office of Statistician","content":"#### 7 Appointment and tenure of office of Statistician\n\n  (1) The Statistician shall be appointed by the Governor‑General and, subject to this Act, holds office for such period, not exceeding 7 years, as is specified in the instrument of his or her appointment but is eligible for re‑appointment.\n  (3) The Statistician holds office on such terms and conditions (if any) in respect of matters not provided for by this Act as are determined by the Governor‑General.","sortOrder":8},{"sectionNumber":"8","sectionType":"section","heading":"Statistician not to undertake any other work","content":"#### 8 Statistician not to undertake any other work\n\n  The Statistician shall not engage in paid employment outside the duties of his or her office except with the approval of the Minister.","sortOrder":9},{"sectionNumber":"9","sectionType":"section","heading":"Remuneration and allowances","content":"#### 9 Remuneration and allowances\n\n  (1) The Statistician shall be paid such remuneration as is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal, but, if no determination of that remuneration by the Tribunal is in operation, the Statistician shall be paid such remuneration as is prescribed.\n  (2) The Statistician shall be paid such allowances as are prescribed.\n  (3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.","sortOrder":10},{"sectionNumber":"10","sectionType":"section","heading":"Leave of absence","content":"#### 10 Leave of absence\n\n  The Minister may grant leave of absence to the Statistician upon such terms and conditions as to remuneration or otherwise as the Minister determines.","sortOrder":11},{"sectionNumber":"11","sectionType":"section","heading":"Resignation","content":"#### 11 Resignation\n\n  The Statistician may resign his or her office by writing signed by the Statistician and delivered to the Governor‑General.","sortOrder":12},{"sectionNumber":"12","sectionType":"section","heading":"Removal from office","content":"#### 12 Removal from office\n\n  (1) The Governor‑General may remove the Statistician from office on an address praying for his or her removal on the ground of misbehaviour or incapacity being presented to the Governor‑General by each House of the Parliament in the same session of the Parliament.\n  (2) The Governor‑General may suspend the Statistician from office on the ground of misbehaviour or incapacity.\n  (3) Where the Governor‑General suspends the Statistician from office, the Minister shall cause a statement of the ground of the suspension to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 7 sitting days of that House after the suspension.\n  (4) Where such a statement has been laid before a House of the Parliament, that House may, within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which the statement has been laid before it, by resolution, declare that the Statistician should be removed from office and, if each House so passes such a resolution, the Governor‑General shall remove the Statistician from office.\n  (5) If, at the expiration of 15 sitting days of a House of the Parliament after the day on which the statement has been laid before that House, that House has not passed such a resolution, the suspension terminates.\n  (6) The suspension of the Statistician from office under this section does not affect any entitlement of the Statistician to be paid remuneration and allowances.\n  (7) If the Statistician becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or her creditors or makes an assignment of his or her remuneration for their benefit, the Governor‑General shall remove the Statistician from office.\n  (8) The Governor‑General may, with the consent of the Statistician, retire the Statistician from office on the ground of incapacity.\n  (9) The Statistician shall not be removed or suspended from office except as provided by this section.","sortOrder":13},{"sectionNumber":"15","sectionType":"section","heading":"Acting appointments","content":"#### 15 Acting appointments\n\n  The Minister may, by written instrument, appoint a person to act as the Statistician:\n    (a) during a vacancy in the office of the Statistician (whether or not an appointment has previously been made to the office); or\n    (b) during any period, or during all periods, when the Statistician:\n    (i) is absent from duty or from Australia; or\n    (ii) is, for any reason, unable to perform the duties of the office.\n\n> Note: For rules that apply to acting appointments, see sections 33AB and 33A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.","sortOrder":14},{"sectionNumber":"16","sectionType":"section","heading":"Staff","content":"#### 16 Staff\n\n  (1) Subject to subsection (2), the staff required for the purposes of the Bureau shall be persons engaged under, or whose services are made available in accordance with arrangements made under, the Public Service Act 1999.\n  (2) Subject to subsection (2A), subsection (1) does not prevent the engaging, in accordance with regulations in force under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, of persons (including persons referred to in subsection (1)) to assist in the carrying out of the functions of the Statistician.\n  (2A) Persons referred to in subsection (1) may be engaged as mentioned in subsection (2) only in relation to:\n    (a) the taking of the Census mentioned in the Census and Statistics Act 1905; and\n    (b) the collection of other statistics and related information.\n  (3) The terms and conditions of employment of persons engaged as mentioned in subsection (2) (including persons employed at the commencement of this Act) shall be such as are determined by the Statistician.\n  (4) For the purposes of the Public Service Act 1999:\n    (a) the Statistician and the APS employees assisting the Statistician together constitute a Statutory Agency; and\n    (b) the Statistician is the Head of that Statutory Agency.","sortOrder":15},{"sectionNumber":"16A","sectionType":"section","heading":"Persons seconded to the Bureau","content":"#### 16A Persons seconded to the Bureau\n\n  (1) The Statistician may arrange with:\n    (a) a governmental agency or governmental authority; or\n    (b) an international organisation of an intergovernmental character;\n  for the services of officers or employees of the agency, authority or organisation to be made available to assist in the carrying out of the functions of the Statistician.\n  (2) Subsection (1) applies to an agency, authority or organisation, whether in Australia or in a foreign country.\n  (3) Subsection (1) has effect in addition to, and not in substitution for, a provision of the Public Service Act 1999 that provides for the making of arrangements under which a person performs services in the Bureau.\n\n> Note: Persons whose services are made available in accordance with arrangements made under the Public Service Act 1999 are covered by subsection 16(1) of this Act.","sortOrder":16},{"sectionNumber":"Part III","sectionType":"part","heading":"Australian Statistics Advisory Council","content":"## Part III—Australian Statistics Advisory Council","sortOrder":17},{"sectionNumber":"17","sectionType":"section","heading":"Establishment of Council","content":"#### 17 Establishment of Council\n\n  There is hereby established a Council to be known as the Australian Statistics Advisory Council.","sortOrder":18},{"sectionNumber":"18","sectionType":"section","heading":"Functions of Council","content":"#### 18 Functions of Council\n\n  (1) The functions of the Council are to advise the Minister and the Statistician in relation to:\n    (a) the improvement, extension and co‑ordination of statistical services provided for public purposes in Australia;\n    (b) annual and longer term priorities and programs of work that should be adopted in relation to major aspects of the provision of those statistical services; and\n    (c) any other matters relating generally to those statistical services.\n  (2) Either the Minister or the Statistician, or both of them, may refer matters of the kind referred to in subsection (1) to the Council for the purpose of seeking the advice of the Council in relation to those matters.","sortOrder":19},{"sectionNumber":"19","sectionType":"section","heading":"Membership of Council","content":"#### 19 Membership of Council\n\n  (1) The Council shall consist of:\n    (a) the Chairperson;\n    (b) the Statistician; and\n    (c) such other members, being not less than 10 and not more than 22 in number, as the Minister determines.\n  (2) The Chairperson and the members referred to in paragraph (1)(c) shall be appointed by the Minister as part‑time members, and shall hold office, subject to this Act:\n    (a) in the case of the Chairperson—for a period of 5 years; and\n    (b) in the case of each other member—for such period, not exceeding 3 years, as is specified in his or her instrument of appointment;\n  but are eligible for re‑appointment.\n  (3) If the Premier of a State or the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory or of the Northern Territory nominates a person for appointment to the Council, the Minister shall appoint that person as one of the members referred to in paragraph (1)(c) unless the Council already includes a member appointed on the nomination of the Premier of that State or the Chief Minister of that Territory, as the case may be.","sortOrder":20},{"sectionNumber":"20","sectionType":"section","heading":"Resignation and removal of members","content":"#### 20 Resignation and removal of members\n\n  (1) A member may resign his or her office by writing signed by the member and delivered to the Minister.\n  (2) The Minister may remove a member from office for misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.","sortOrder":21},{"sectionNumber":"21","sectionType":"section","heading":"Remuneration of members","content":"#### 21 Remuneration of members\n\n  (1) A member of the Council shall be paid such remuneration as is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal, but, if no determination of that remuneration by the Tribunal is in operation, the member shall be paid such remuneration as is prescribed.\n  (2) A member of the Council shall be paid such allowances as are prescribed.\n  (3) This section has effect subject to the Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973.","sortOrder":22},{"sectionNumber":"22","sectionType":"section","heading":"Meetings","content":"#### 22 Meetings\n\n  (1) The Council shall hold such meetings as are necessary for the performance of its functions, and shall meet at least once in every calendar year.\n  (2) The meetings of the Council may be convened by the Chairperson or by the Minister.\n  (3) At a meeting of the Council, a quorum is constituted by one‑third of the members for the time being holding office.\n  (4) The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings of the Council at which the Chairperson is present.\n  (5) If the Chairperson is not present at a meeting of the Council, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside at the meeting.\n  (6) Questions arising at a meeting of the Council shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting.\n  (7) The member presiding at a meeting of the Council has a deliberative vote and, in the event of an equality of votes, also has a casting vote.","sortOrder":23},{"sectionNumber":"Part IV","sectionType":"part","heading":"Miscellaneous","content":"## Part IV—Miscellaneous","sortOrder":24},{"sectionNumber":"24","sectionType":"section","heading":"Annual report on the Council","content":"#### 24 Annual report on the Council\n\n  (1) The Council must, as soon as practicable after 30 June in each year, prepare and submit to the Minister, for presentation to the Parliament, a report relating to matters connected with the operation of this Act.\n  (2) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after its receipt by the Minister.","sortOrder":25},{"sectionNumber":"25","sectionType":"section","heading":"Regulations","content":"#### 25 Regulations\n\n  The Governor‑General may make regulations, not inconsistent with this Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed, or necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.","sortOrder":26}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The text supplied is a standalone establishment and governance statute for the Australian Bureau of Statistics setting out its functions, governance, staffing and advisory council. The Act itself does not describe amendments to or departures from an earlier instrument within the supplied text; it establishes scope and procedures rather than recording a scope change from a prior version. Any changes to scope in operational detail are effected by or located in the other laws and regulations that this Act references (for example, the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and the Public Service Act 1999) rather than within the provisions shown here."},"complexity_factors":["Cross-references to multiple other statutes and instruments (e.g. Public Service Act 1999, Census and Statistics Act 1905, PGPA Act, Remuneration Tribunal Act) which move operational detail outside this Act (s5(5), s16(2), s16(4), s9, s21).","Procedural requirements with an exception: parliamentary laying of new business data-collection proposals, plus a Ministerial fast-track exception with prompt disclosure (s6(3)–(4)).","Layered appointment and removal rules creating multiple decision-makers (Governor‑General, Minister, Parliament) with different powers and protections (s7, s12, s15, s19, s20).","Multiple institutional bodies and roles (Bureau, Statistician, Council) with overlapping functions of advice, coordination and control (s5, s6, s17–19).","Staffing arrangements that mix Public Service employment, special engagements under Census and Statistics Act regulations, and secondments including from foreign intergovernmental organisations (s16, s16A).","Financial and accountability embedding in Commonwealth finance law (listed entity, accountable authority), which requires compliance with a separate governance framework (s5(5)).","Delegated regulatory power to the Governor‑General to prescribe supporting matters (s25), creating potential variability in implementation."],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the office of the Australian Statistician as the Commonwealth’s central statistical authority, gives the Bureau powers to collect, compile and publish official statistics, and makes the Statistician the accountable authority under Commonwealth finance law.  \n\nIt centralises standards and coordination across official bodies, requires most new Bureau data-collection proposals to be laid before Parliament (with a ministerial exception for business-related collections), and sets appointment, tenure and staffing arrangements affecting government agencies and potentially businesses."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains focused on its original purpose of establishing and governing the Australian Bureau of Statistics. While amended over time to update references (e.g., replacing Public Service Act 1922 with 1999, adding PGPA Act 2013 accountability framework), these are modernisation updates rather than scope expansion. The core functions in section 6 and the advisory council structure in Part III remain true to the original 1975 intent."},"complexity_factors":["Straightforward structure with only 4 Parts and 25 sections","Only 5 defined terms in the interpretation section (Bureau, Chairperson, Council, member, Statistician)","Minimal cross-referencing — primarily references to the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and Public Service Act 1999 for staffing matters","Simple conditional logic limited to procedural requirements (e.g., parliamentary notification for new data collection proposals with a ministerial override provision)","No nested exceptions or deeply conditional provisions","Modern amendments (such as the 2013 PGPA Act references) integrated cleanly without complicating the original structure"],"plain_english_summary":"This law creates the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) — the government agency responsible for collecting and publishing official statistics like the Census, employment figures, and economic data.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Establishes the ABS** as a government entity and creates the position of Australian Statistician (the head of the Bureau)\n- **Sets out the Bureau's job**: collecting, analysing and publishing statistics; coordinating statistics across government; setting statistical standards; and representing Australia internationally on statistical matters\n- **Creates an advisory body**: the Australian Statistics Advisory Council, which advises the Minister and Statistician on priorities and improvements to statistical services\n- **Provides accountability rules**: requires new proposals for collecting information (except voluntary surveys) to be shown to Parliament first, with some exceptions for urgent business surveys\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Everyone in Australia**: Anyone who fills out the Census or other ABS surveys\n- **Government agencies**: The Bureau coordinates statistics across federal, state and territory governments\n- **Businesses**: Often required to provide statistical information to the ABS\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law ensures Australia has reliable, independent official statistics for decision-making by government, business and the public. It protects the independence of the Statistician (who can only be removed by Parliament for misbehaviour or incapacity) and ensures transparency about what data the government collects."},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains focused on its original purpose: establishing the ABS, defining its statistical functions, and creating the advisory council. There is no evidence of significant scope creep beyond minor administrative updates to reflect modern governance frameworks such as the PGPA Act and Public Service Act 1999."},"complexity_factors":["Interaction with multiple other Acts (Public Service Act 1999, Census and Statistics Act 1905, Public Governance Performance and Accountability Act 2013, Remuneration Tribunal Act 1973)","Dual governance structure — both the Bureau as an entity and the Statistician as an individual statutory officeholder with separate powers","Transition provisions converting the old Commonwealth Statistician role to the Australian Statistician","Parliamentary oversight mechanism for new statistical collections with a ministerial bypass for business statistics","Layered staffing provisions distinguishing APS employees, Census-specific contractors, and seconded international/intergovernmental staff","Removal and suspension procedures involving both Governor-General and parliamentary resolutions"],"plain_english_summary":"## What This Law Does\n\nThis Act creates the **Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)** — Australia's official national statistics agency — and sets out how it operates.\n\n## Who It Affects\n\n- **All Australians**: The ABS collects data about you, your household, your business, and your community through surveys and the national Census.\n- **Businesses**: New mandatory (compulsory) data collection proposals must be tabled in Parliament before they begin, giving businesses and the public some oversight.\n- **Government agencies**: The ABS coordinates statistical work across all federal agencies to avoid duplication and ensure consistency.\n- **State and Territory Governments**: The ABS acts as the central statistics authority for the federal government and can provide statistical services to state governments by agreement.\n\n## Key Things This Law Does\n\n1. **Establishes the ABS** as the official government statistics body, replacing the old 'Commonwealth Statistician' role with a new 'Australian Statistician.'\n\n2. **Defines the ABS's job**: collecting, analysing and publishing statistics; coordinating statistical work across government; setting standards; and liaising with international statistical organisations.\n\n3. **Protects the Statistician's independence**: The Australian Statistician (the head of the ABS) can only be removed by Parliament, not simply sacked by a Minister — similar to how judges have protected tenure. This helps ensure statistics remain politically neutral.\n\n4. **Creates an Advisory Council** (the Australian Statistics Advisory Council): A group of 12–24 people including state and territory nominees that advises the Minister and the Statistician on what statistics should be collected and how resources should be prioritised.\n\n5. **Parliamentary oversight on new data collection**: If the ABS wants to start compulsorily collecting new information, it must first table the proposal in Parliament — unless it's voluntary. This gives Parliament (and the public) a chance to scrutinise new data demands.\n\n## Why It Matters\n\nThe ABS produces the official figures that drive major decisions — interest rates, government budgets, welfare policy, urban planning and more. This Act ensures those statistics are produced by an independent, accountable body rather than being controlled by politicians."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975","history":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-act-1975/documents"}}