Australia Yearbook - 2001

xxviii Year Book Australia 2001
Self-government in the colonies occurred
progressively from 1855. Then it was entirely for
the colonies to decide on the range and quality of
their statistical records. In all the colonies after a
transition period, the Blue Books were
transformed into the Statistical Registers of the
second half of the nineteenth century, and
although there were marked similarities, the
responses of the colonies inevitably were
different. In turn these Statistical Registers were
transformed into Year Books with analysis of and
comments on the statistics.
Using the Victorian colony as an example,
because its experiences mirror what happened in
the other colonies, the first step was the
establishment in early 1855 of a Registrar of Births
and Deaths and the setting up of an elaborate and
uniform system to record vital events and derive
comprehensive statistics from them. Within the
office, a Statistical Branch was also used to collect
agricultural statistics and produce annual
statistics for Victoria. However, there is reason to
believe that the Registrar-General was inclined to
look upon the compilation of the annual
Statistical Registers as an onerous addition to his
legitimate work, and that therefore no serious
attempts were made to improve the publications.
As might be expected, the lack of uniformity in
the coverage and the presentation of statistics in
these annual volumes across the colonies was
keenly felt. Indeed:
“The Government of Victoria expressed a
hope ... to the effect that the three colonies
should not only unite in regard to the
enumeration of the people, but to recast and
assimilate, in concert, all “blue books” and
other statistics, on a scientific and practical
basis, [and that this] would meet with the
concurrence of the Government of New
South Wales and South Australia.” 2
In 1874 the Statistical Branch was separated from
the Registrar-General’s office and established as a
separate organisation in the Department of the
Chief Secretary, with its head being called the
Government Statist, the first such appointment in
the colonies.
The next major step forward was the publication
of an annual summary of Victorian statistics,
containing not only bare tabulations, but also
analyses of the figures; the Victorian Year Book
was to fill that role. As the Government Statist at
that time said:
“It will be my endeavour in this
succession of volumes to record facts
with correctness and impartiality; to
comment on them only so far as may be
necessary as to elucidate them properly;
to set up no theories except such as may
be fairly deducible from the materials
before me; and, in drawing inferences, to
exercise perfect fairness to all sections of
the community.” 3
This quote shows that the principles of a
sound, open and objective statistical system
were established in Australia many years ago.
Continuing with the Victorian example, the
responsibility for conducting the 1854
Census was given to the newly created Office
of the Registrar-General. Along with attempts
to produce uniform annual statistics in the
second half of the 1850s, discussions and
negotiations began about holding the Census
in 1861 in all of the Australian colonies on
the same day as it was held in Great Britain
and Ireland. In the event most colonies did
so and censuses were then conducted every
ten years.
At this stage of development, official statistics
of the Australian colonies were certainly of
high international quality, both in content
and presentation. This may seem surprising,
but it has been said that:
“To a considerable extent the
achievement was, for a number of
reasons, a legacy of British colonial rule.
First, the colonies had been required to
produce official statistics on an annual
basis.... Second, the statistics had to be of
a range and quality to satisfy the British
authorities, who required them for
efficient administration. Third, the
statistics had to be brought together by a
single officer, the local Colonial Secretary,
who took some final responsibility for
their accuracy and their presentation;
there was therefore a central statistical
authority and this contrasted markedly
with the British position. Finally, the
authority was required to present all the
relevant statistics of the colony in a single
volume—the Blue Book. As an offshoot
of these developments, it was natural for
the colonies to begin the production of a
consolidated volume of annual statistics
for their own use.” 4