Relevant and complete
The 2017–18 measures support the ABS purpose by focusing on quality and increasing utilisation through innovative solutions to inform decisions, while keeping a focus on engagement with stakeholders to ensure the ABS meets their needs, both current and future, and ensuring staff have the capability to support the future transformed organisation.

The completeness of the picture presented by the measures demonstrates both an internal and external focus on ensuring the ABS achieves its purpose of informing important decisions through quality, partnerships and innovation.

Targets and measures may be replaced or rephrased in 2018–19 to provide more contemporary targets and measures that reflect the changes as the organisation progresses through transformation and data related initiatives mature.

Reliable
Overall, information sources are fit-for-purpose. Methodology and processes have been documented. Quality control and management assurance has been provided. In 2017–18, three performance measures were independently audited, including the underlying data and data sources to ensure the methodology was sound. In addition to the three discrete measures being reviewed, the overall appropriateness of the full suite of measures to tell the ABS’s performance story was also scrutinised.

The outcome found that the suite of measures and targets did tell an appropriate story, noting areas of measures that could be reviewed to reduce duplication and ensure clearer alignment of measures to ABS objectives. This is to ensure measures for 2018–19 and beyond reflect the highest priority areas for the organisation to be measuring. The ABS has been improving its approach to quality control and assurance, contextualising measure results and reviewing measures and targets for future years to achieve greater alignment to the Corporate Plan and ensure a coherent performance story can be provided.