AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Australian Immigration statistics funding extended 3 years

Monday, 20 July 2009

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have announced that the National Migrant Statistics Unit (NMSU) would continue to operate for at least the next 3 years.

The NMSU was originally commissioned to provide statistics on people immigrating to Australia, as well as to provide ethnicity related statistics. These statistics are used by the Department of Immigration to analyse the effectiveness of its immigration programs.

The role of the NMSU includes:

• maintaining a dialogue with stakeholders on emerging issues, data gaps and needs
• developing statistical surveys related to migrants and ethnicity
• providing statistical leadership and coordination in migrant and ethnicity statistics
• developing statistical standards and analytical concepts
• advancing migrant and ethnicity issues with the ABS
• facilitating client requests for data on migrants and ethnicity.

DIAC and the ABS will contribute $1.3 million in funding over the next 3 years after signing a memorandum of understanding to continue funding the unit.

DIAC Secretary Andrew Metcalfe and the Australian Statistician Brian Pink signed the memorandum today. Mr Metcalfe commented "We cannot underestimate the role migration has played in Australia’s history and in shaping the nation we have today".

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