EP#214 ~ How does ABS’ powerful data lead to informed policy for small business?

Small Biz Matters: People, Policy, Purpose ~ Episode #214

Broadcast date: 21st November 2023

Host: Alexi Boyd, Small Business Advocate & Policy Advisor

Guest: Bjorn Jarvis, Head of Labour Statistics at Australian Bureau of Statistics

This week on the show we welcome Bjorn Jarvis is the head of the labour statistics program at the ABS. Why are we talking to the ABS? what has this got to do with my small business? Because they are advocates for the power of high quality statistics in understanding the Australian economy and society, and in informing important decisions by businesses, households and governments. And as we know many of these policies are based on this data and as we are going to learn this week, much of this data comes from the ABS.

PEOPLE - Who influences the decisions on which data is most important and when to release the data? Is it political or is the ABS independent and driven by the economic landscape?

POLICY - How the data the ABS provides influences government policy decisions and where does it have the most influence?  

PURPOSE - What's is the ABS' fundamental purpose? What is it hoping to drive with its data? How can small businesses make the most of this data?

Bjorn Jarvis is the head of the labour statistics program at the ABS. He is a prominent advocate for the power of high quality statistics in understanding the Australian economy and society, and in informing important decisions by businesses, households and governments.

Bjorn is a regular voice in public commentary and on social media highlighting important insights from ABS statistics, including the experiences of small businesses. He is also passionate about small business owners being able to get their hands on data, with lots of data available for free through the ABS website, including information on how their industries and communities are changing.

To find out more go to: https://www.abs.gov.au