ONE of our nation's most trusted and respected public institutions, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is rightly writhing in embarrassment after its colossal failure in executing one of its key tasks, conducting the five-yearly census.
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The ABS' discomfort is heightened by the fact that many had voiced concerns about changes to the census methodology.
First, the bureau's decision to store names and addresses for longer than previously fuelled fears privacy might be breached. Second, the shift to a primary reliance on the digital lodging of data created consternation the system would be insufficiently robust – which proved the case under the combined load of millions of people trying to connect to the ABS site and of a malicious cyber bombardment.
By announcing the changes in a media release the Friday before Christmas, the ABS gormlessly invited suspicion it was seeking to avoid scrutiny. The ABS failed then, and has since, in communicating the reasons for the changes and in reassuring the public.
No census data has been lost, says Minister Michael McCormack, despite the ABS being forced to close its on-line census site.
It is crucial this situation be retrieved. The ABS and the government must verify the security of the significant amount of data collected before the site was shut down on Tuesday evening. Investigations by the Privacy Commissioner and the Australian Signals Directorate, an intelligence agency within the Department of Defence, will aid in this.
ABS chief David Kalisch says he is certain the data is safe, but he also says the final of the four digital attacks that caused the ABS to shut down the site exposed a "gap" in security. Mr Kalisch and the government need to clarify the situation.
The opposition's calls for the resignation of the minister overseeing the ABS are overreach – particularly as Assistant Treasurer Michael McCormack has only been in the job for less than a month.
But we do agree the government is at fault for having left the ABS without a leader for almost a year.
It ought to be relatively easy for the ABS to rectify the issue and give an unambiguous assurance. Once that is done, we would urge people to participate in the census before the September 23 deadline. They must be able to do so with confidence, rather than as a leap of faith – and such confidence has been undermined.