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Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

While there are some statistics that are designed to mislead or conceal, often the best place to start when you need accurate, trustworthy is a government source. High on our list of resources for Australian statistics is AusStats, produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Whether you need current trends in automobile purchases by state or population projections to 2051, AusStats provides simple access to historical data, current statistics and projections of future developments.

AusStat's search function is fairly rudimentary; you cannot limit your search by type of document (press release, article, report), nor can you limit a search to title or date. However, the relevance ranking feature works well, and the "find word variations" and "find similar spellings" options are useful. Browsing by general subject area may be a more efficient way to find the statistics you need.

Note that each report includes "Related links", a collection of pointers to similar or related reports, press releases, articles and background information on how the data was collected. This is a valuable feature, given the range of information available on a topic.

An unusual feature of AusStats is the regular publication of "Information Papers" discussing various issues related to compiling and understanding statistics. These publications are useful for anyone who has to figure out how to interpret time series, or the impact of the 2000 changes in the tax system on commercial statistics.

Another useful resource in AusStats is the Statistical Concepts Library, which includes a wide range of publications, including an analysis of how to measure a knowledge-based economy, a discussion of the challenges of developing a national statistical framework for criminal justice data, and information on all the classification schemes used by ABS.

Not all statistical series are available for free; you can purchase the for-fee reports with a credit card. All AusStats products are available at no charge to Australian universities (when used for teaching or academic research) and libraries participating in the Library Extension Program. Commercial organisations can also subscribe to AusStats, providing access to the fee-based content all or selected employees. Note that even the fee-based reports often include free summaries and key aspects of the data.

If you want to move beyond what even AusStats has to offer, be sure to click the "Other ABS Links" button, then select "Statistics". This will take you to a listing of all the statistical resources of the ABS.

We can't show you where the lies and damned lies are, but AusStats is a great first stop for statistics.

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