The Business Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Treasury’s consultation paper Proposal to remake the Statistics Determination 1983.

The Business Council supports improving availability of government-held data, when done appropriately. Data should only be made more accessible if privacy, confidentiality and community trust are maintained.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) currently has in place numerous controls, including requiring consent, to minimise the risk of breaching commercial confidentiality in the process of data sharing. The Business Council considers that some of the proposed changes in the new Statistics Determination will increase the risk of breach and will require commensurately stronger controls.

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