Today I am launching The Australian Statistician's Technical Series. This series will present analysis and discussion of new developments in the statistical methods used by the ABS. The series aims to inform the community, stimulate discussion and invite feedback about important technical issues. It complements the Analytical Series I launched last June.
The first article in the series, released today, is on the topic "Confidentiality in ABS Microdata".
All national statistical organisations seek to appropriately balance the competing goals of providing statistical information that is as useful as possible while safeguarding data confidentiality. The ABS balances these goals using an approach based on the internationally recognised Five Safes framework.
This article shares the ABS's experience using the Five Safes to design different data access solutions for different data products.
The ABS view is that decisions on releasing datasets should take into account the context and mode of data access in mind, to ensure that data utility and disclosure risk are appropriately balanced.
Feedback on the topics included in this new technical series is welcomed.
Dr David Gruen
Australian Statistician
