🚀 go-pugleaf

dieter@bronze.apana.org.au (Dieter Jansen) writes:
>
> saundo@byron.apana.org.au (Chris Saunderson) writes:
>
> > FWIW, I don't think that the ABS will make any of it's information
> > available, due to the fact that they actually make money out of
> > selling that information (gathered at great cost) to the public
> > and business in general. So, I think
>
> -----------^^^^^^^^^^^^^  At great _public_ cost.

Not quite - see below.

> Considering that individuals and businesses are compelled by law to
> provide this information (which I don't have an argument with), and
> since it is processed at public expense I think there is very little
> case to charge for it - bespoke research is another matter, of course.

I agree that if _all_ stats gathering the ABS did was at public expense
that it may be a reasonable thing for the information to be freely
available, however, the Government has been implementing a user pays
system for most of its departments for a number of years now.

A fair chunk of the work the ABS does is done on request - eg: the Cencus
and other stats of national interest that the Government needs in order
to run the country, is requested by and paid for by the Government.
Other stats (such as transport industry stats, hospitality and tourism
figures, etc) are usually done at the request of industry bodies, which
are charged accordingly for the service.

For example, a new trucking company wants statistics on how much trucking
goes on between Melbourne and Perth to see how much of the market share
they can conceivably snatch from existing trucking companies.  They aren't
likely to have the resources to gather that information themselves, so they
approach the ABS.  The ABS gather the statistics, compile the information,
(privacy laws apply of course) and then they provide the stats to the
new trucking company which pays for the service.

If a subsequent government department (eg: main roads) wants the same
trucking stats, they too will be charged for the information.

Not all stats gathering is for Government use, therefore if all the stats
were gathered at taxpayers expense, there would be an uproar!  This is why
there is a user pays system, just like any other service ;]

Cheers

Leigh
--
| "By the time they had diminished | Leigh Hart                |
|  from 50 to 8, the other dwarves | <hart@eppie.apana.org.au> |
|  began to suspect 'Hungry' ..."  | C/- 195 Gilles Street     |
|   -- Gary Larson, "The Far Side" | Adelaide  SA  5006        |