2016

KPMG review into bungled census ‘compromised’, says whistleblower

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Jun-18

Harmers Workplace Lawyers is taking legal action against KPMG and three of its senior executives on behalf of former associate director James Eldridge. KPMG has been accused of taking adverse action against Eldridge; he was dismissed as a result of complaints he made about KPMG’s review of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ IT systems following the flawed 2016 census. Eldridge is said to have told KPMG that he felt that the review was not accurate or independent. KPMG has denied his allegations, and has stated that his dismissal was for "appropriate reasons".

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HARMERS WORKPLACE LAWYERS, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Doubts raised on mine job numbers

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 9 : 8-Nov-17

Data from the 2016 Census shows that just 907 of the 8,000 Aboriginals who live in the Pilbara region currently work in the iron ore industry. In contrast, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group claim that they employ about 1,850 Aboriginal people in the Pilbara. Perth-based lawyer Franklin Gaffney says the census figures give credence to claims that Aboriginal employment numbers in the mining sector are being inflated. He has proposed independent monitoring of native title agreements to ensure that companies are meeting their targets for employing indigenous people.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, LAVAN LEGAL, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Migrant nation born as Christian heritage fades

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Original article by Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 28-Jun-17

Data from the 2016 Census shows that the proportion of Australians who identify as Christian has fallen to 52 per cent. The data also shows that 49.3 per cent of Australians were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was not born in Australia. Meanwhile, a growing number of migrations originate from Asia rather than Europe, with people from India and China accounting for 27 per cent of migrants since 2006. The Census data also indicates that the ageing of the nation’s population is gathering pace, with the number of Australians aged 65+ rising by 57 per cent since 2006.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH AND METHODS

Australia’s 2016 Census had ‘significant and obvious oversights,’ report finds

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Original article by Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
News.com.au – Page: Online : 25-Nov-16

A Senate economics committee has released a report which criticises the Australian Bureau of Statistics and IT group IBM over their handling of the "digital first" 2016 Census, which was hit by a series of denial of service attacks. Amongst other things, the ABS’s decision to retain confidential personal information came under scrutiny, as well as the limited tender process for choosing a technology supplier for the Census. The committee’s recommendations include adopting an open tender system for work associated with the next Census.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Census meltdown to cost $30m

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-Oct-16

The shutdown of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census website on 9 August 2016 will cost up to $A30 million. Chief statistician David Kalisch has told the Senate estimates committee that $A20m has already been spent. He expects the ABS to spend another $A10m. IBM stated in a submission to the committee that the website was ready to be reactivated within three hours but the actions of other organisations extended the delay to 40 hours.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, NEXTGEN PTY LTD

85% of Australian households have completed the ABS Census despite website problems, Roy Morgan Research finds

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Morgan Poll Update – Page: Online : 29-Aug-16

A special snap SMS Morgan Poll has found that 85 per cent of Australian households have now completed the 2016 Census despite problems with the Census website on the designated Census date of 9 August. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says clear majorities of all age groups, both genders and in every State have managed to complete the Census since Census night. The remaining 15 per cent of Australian households have another four weeks to complete the online Census forms or face potential fines of up to $A180 per day.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED,{SPAC}LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA,{SPAC}NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA,{SPAC}AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY,{SPAC}AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Census battle to convince millions

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 12-Aug-16

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census website was accessible again on 11 August 2016, after being shut down for 40 hours due to a denial of service attack. It is estimated that about 2.3 million households have completed the census form to date, but the Federal Government requires at least 10 million households to do so in order for the census to be "statistically significant". Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has blamed the ABS and IT giant IBM for the census website’s failure.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Fallout over meltdown tests Turnbull government

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Original article by Laura Tingle
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 11-Aug-16

The causes and implications of the crash of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ census website on 9 August 2016 will be investigated by the Australian Signals Directorate. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has assured Australians that the crash did not compromise the security of census data. For Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, it was "the worst-run census in Australian history."

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN SIGNALS DIRECTORATE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, IBM AUSTRALIA LIMITED, REVOLUTION IT PTY LTD

Down for the count: census thrown into chaos

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Original article by Simone Fox Koob, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Aug-16

Concerns about the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ management of personal information have been underscored by the failure of its website to cope with the nation’s inaugural digital-first census. Many people who tried to fill out their census form online on 9 August 2016 encountered server problems, with the website either not available or generating error messages. Some federal politicians have refused to put their name on the census form due to fears that such information will be retained for much longer than in the past.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, THE STATISTICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Census cost could be better spent, says ABS

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 20-Feb-15

The cost of Australia’s 2011 national census is estimated to have exceeded $A400m, prompting the Australian Bureau of Statistics to propose abolishing the next census in 2016. The bureau argues that the cost savings could be used to upgrade its IT systems and undertake annual population surveys with a much smaller sample of respondents. Reducing the frequency of the census from five years to 10 is also believed to be under consideration

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, FAMILY FIRST PARTY AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. CENTRELINK, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA