{"id":"F2018L00967","name":"Australian Bureau of Statistics – Termination of Acting Australian Statistician – Appointment 2018","slug":"australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":97652,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2018L00967-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Australian Bureau of Statistics – Termination of Acting Australian Statistician – Appointment 2018","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\nmeta-generator: Aspose.Words for .NET 20.2\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia](image.001.jpeg)\n\n \n\nAustralian Bureau of Statistics – Termination of Acting Australian Statistician – Appointment 2018\n\n \n\nI, the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC QC, Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and under subsection 15(1) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975, terminate the appointment made on 2 March 2018 of Jonathan Palmer, Randall Brugeaud and Luise McCulloch to act in the office of Australian Statistician.\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nDated: 29 June 2018\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nPaul de Jersey\n\nAdministrator\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nBy His Excellency’s Command\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nMichael Sukkar\n\nAssistant Minister to the Treasurer\n\nParliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a discrete administrative instrument performing exactly the function described in its title – terminating specific acting appointments. It has not expanded beyond its original purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative clause terminating three appointments","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation beyond one subsection citation","No conditional logic or exceptions","Standard pro forma administrative instrument format"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this is:** A formal instrument terminating the temporary appointments of three people who were acting as the head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Jonathan Palmer, Randall Brugeaud and Luise McCulloch** – three public servants whose temporary roles as \"Acting Australian Statistician\" ended on 29 June 2018.\n- **The ABS** – Australia's official statistics agency, which collects data like the Census and employment figures.\n\n**What it does:**\n- Removes three people from acting in the top job at the ABS.\n- These were appointments originally made on 2 March 2018.\n- The power comes from the *Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975*, which lets the Governor-General (or Administrator, acting on government advice) appoint and remove the Australian Statistician.\n\n**Why it matters:**\n- The Australian Statistician is the CEO of the ABS – a significant public office responsible for trusted national data.\n- This instrument shows a change in leadership arrangements, ending a job-sharing or rotating arrangement among three senior officials.\n- Such instruments are routine administrative machinery, but they ensure the ABS always has properly authorised leadership."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The instrument changes the status established by the earlier appointments of 2 March 2018 by terminating those acting appointments. It removes the authority of the three named individuals to act as Australian Statistician (instrument text). The instrument does not specify successors, replacements, or changes to the ABS’s statutory powers, so the change in scope is limited to ending those acting appointments rather than altering the statutory framework or functions of the ABS."},"complexity_factors":["Single operative action: termination of acting appointments for three named individuals","Brevity of instrument: one statutory reference and no procedural detail","No subsidiary rules, conditions, or transitional arrangements specified","Executive decision recorded (Administrator acting with advice of the Federal Executive Council) but no explanation of internal ABS implementation","Absence of stated financial, regulatory, or operational consequences in the text"],"plain_english_summary":"What this instrument does\n\n- It ends the temporary (\"acting\") appointments of three people — Jonathan Palmer, Randall Brugeaud and Luise McCulloch — who had been appointed to act in the office of Australian Statistician. The instrument records that this termination is made under subsection 15(1) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975 and is dated 29 June 2018.\n\nWho decides and how the decision is recorded\n\n- The termination is made by the Administrator of the Commonwealth of Australia acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council (the instrument is signed by the Administrator and recorded \"By His Excellency’s Command\" by the Assistant Minister to the Treasurer). The statutory authority cited is subsection 15(1) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975.\n\nWho is directly affected\n\n- The three named individuals lose their authority to act as Australian Statistician. The instrument does not name any successor, reappointment, or substantive appointment.\n\nWhat the instrument does not do (explicit omissions in the text)\n\n- It does not state any reason for the terminations. It does not alter the powers, functions, or statutory framework of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It does not mention remuneration, employment status other than the termination of the acting appointments, nor does it set a replacement or interim arrangement.\n\nPractical implications, costs, incentives and risks\n\n- Administrative effect: The immediate mechanical effect is the removal of the three acting appointees from the office of Australian Statistician (instrument text). Administrative costs of recording and publishing this termination are likely small; no additional costs, payments or compensatory arrangements are specified.\n\n- Decision-making and discretion: The power to terminate is exercised by the Administrator on advice of the Federal Executive Council (instrument text citing subsection 15(1)). That structure places the decision within executive government processes; the instrument itself does not describe any internal ABS process or statutory limit on how that discretion is used.\n\n- Compliance and burden: The instrument imposes no regulatory or reporting obligations on external parties or businesses. It does not change statutory data-collection powers, fees, or market-facing rules in the ABS Act as shown in the instrument; therefore, it does not directly affect compliance costs for private-sector entities.\n\n- Effects on private enterprise and markets: The instrument contains no provisions that change the ABS’s statutory powers, or that directly affect competition, prices, contracts, ownership, or consumer choice. Any downstream market effects would arise only if leadership changes altered ABS operations — the instrument does not specify any operational change.\n\n- Opportunity costs and substitution effects: The text does not identify replacements or timelines, so organisational continuity depends on other internal arrangements not recorded here. That uncertainty is the principal operational risk visible in the instrument.\n\nTrade-offs and potential for concentrated benefits or costs\n\n- The instrument confers an immediate change in who holds delegated office powers at the ABS (concentrated effect on the three named individuals and on ABS internal management). It does not create new regulatory privileges or obligations that would produce concentrated private-sector benefits or costs in the text provided.\n\nKey legal citation (from the instrument)\n\n- Termination effected \"under subsection 15(1) of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Act 1975\"; dated 29 June 2018; names of the persons terminated are Jonathan Palmer, Randall Brugeaud and Luise McCulloch."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018","history":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018/history","analysis":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/australian-bureau-of-statistics-termination-of-acting-australian-statistician-appointment-2018/documents"}}