Clark DavidDATA AND STATISTICS BILLSecond ReadingHon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Statistics): I present a legislative statement on the Data and Statistics Bill.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I move That the Data and Statistics Bill be now read a second time. This bill replaces the Statistics Act 1975 with a modern framework. Some colleagues asked whether it's time but it is time. It supports a well-functioning data and statistics system that enables the best use of Government-held data while ensuring that people's private and confidential information is kept safe. At first reading the bill did receive cross-party support acknowledging that quality data and statistics are crucial to every decision the Government makes in Aotearoa New Zealand.Members also noted the importance of people having trust in the Government to protect their data appropriately and trust is absolutely crucial to an effective statistics system. We build trust through a system that promotes universal participation and representation in statistics is transparent about how people's data is used and protects both personal and commercially sensitive data. The Governance and Administration Committee has now considered the bill and reported back to the House with recommended changes that strengthen and clarify the bill's provisions. I acknowledge the valuable and important contribution made by members of that committee to the bill's progress in the House.Before I outline the key things raised in submissions and how the bill responds to those one thing I do want to do is to be very clear about what the bill does and does not do. So while the Data and Statistics Bill reflects significant changes in the operating environment since the Statistics Act passed into law in 1975 like the Act it replaces it only allows for data to be collected for producing official statistics and research. It also maintains the Act's confidentiality and privacy requirements. So to be very clear the bill does not expand the scope of information-gathering powers across Government nor does it give Stats New Zealand sole control over the data collected across Government.So what it has changed is that the bill provides for greater leadership of the official statistics system in which increasingly there is work done across Government to produce statistics enhance leadership produce enhance quality of statistical data and promote best practices around its collection management and use. The bill also provides for safer and more transparent access to data for research purposes in the public interest through its research access framework.Administrative data is recognised and accepted internationally as a critical source for official statistics. An interesting reflection as that up until—I think it's around the 1950s in fact—most of the statistics produced in New Zealand were from administrative data. So in a way it's carrying on a very proud tradition. Surveys only became a popular method of collection around I think the middle of last century.When I speak about administrative data I'm talking about data collected in the day-to-day activities of public sector agencies businesses and community groups. The result of this means New Zealanders ultimately if we use administrative data spend less time filling in surveys about their lives and more time living them.That's not a radical departure from how Stats New Zealand operated in the past as I have said. What the bill does though is it gives the Government Statistician power to collect administrative data and that will enable the Government Statistician to produce more timely and granular statistics with less burden on people businesses and communities. There are appropriate exceptions to this power—for instance where it's expressly prevented by other legislation—so the Government Statistician is guided by that other legislation as well.While the bill gives clarity on the use of administrative data I think it's fair to say that surveys will continue to play a very important role for collecting some types of information that we simply can't collect other ways; we simply can't know without asking people. One other significant change I want to touch on is the bill enables the next census to be either held in 2023 or 2024. The census is one of our most important significant sources of data providing us with an official count of people and dwellings every five years. Statistics New Zealand has been very clear that they think they are very well positioned to deliver the census in 2023. But notwithstanding that readiness the external environment—we've noted in recent years—has a tendency to change rapidly with the ever-evolving COVID-19 pandemic. So I think it's right to have taken a decision to allow for flexibility of timing on the next census in the event that it's happening should it need to be delayed for some reason or other.So let me say though to be clear to the House contrary to what some members on the other side of the House have seemingly convinced themselves it is my preference that the census goes ahead as planned in 2023. I can't blame those Opposition spokespeople that have spoken to this though. The flexibility we're implementing here is good governance practice—something perhaps not familiar to those on the other side of the House.Previous decisions to delay a census—for example following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake—required the House to rush through retrospective changes to legislation. So amending the bill at this stage is the most efficient way of making sure that we incorporate any flexibility that's needed in a timely way without disrupting the design and delivery phases of the 2023 census—and that as I say I hope goes ahead as planned.Other approaches considered in that context including safeguarding future censuses by building a more enduring contingency flexibility into the bill would require significant and complex policy work. This is simply an easy tidy-up to do now. A decision on the 2023 census though will be made in July this year and ultimately we will prioritise ensuring that it's made in a timely fashion and made in the best interests of collecting that data effectively.The committee received 36 submissions on the bill touching on many different aspects but there were three themes that developed that were prominent: the importance of representation the need for sufficient accountability and transparency and safe access to data. Official statistics have to be representative of all communities: iwi hapu tangata moana the disabled community migrants youth the rainbow community—all of these communities need to see themselves reflected in the data and statistics that we collect. New consultation requirements will help ensure the needs of diverse communities are recognised and help fill the gaps in the data that Government has traditionally collected.The other thing the bill recognises is that effective engagement leads to better outcomes for Māori for iwi for hapu and for the Government. The bill requires the Statistician to engage effectively with Māori on census the data and statistics programme and the development of data standards. So that is a new aspect to this bill that was not in the previous Act. The bill itself is designed to work alongside other legislation that supports accountability and transparency including the Public Service Act and the Official Information Act and also I note the Privacy Act. Transparency is also required.New requirements for the Statistician to publish information about access to data for research will allow the public to see that the data provided to Stats New Zealand is used safely and used in the public interest and that it contributes to the wider wellbeing of community and society. If the Government Statistician delegates functions to people who are not employees of Stats New Zealand the Statistician must publish information about their delegations including what informed the Statistician's decision. So there'll be a degree of transparency there and any failure by the person who has received that delegation also carries a level of accountability for the Government Statistician. So the Statistician will be motivated to be careful and cautious about considering any possible delegations of those powers.The bill provides a higher level of protection on data collected for the purposes of official statistics and research under the bill imposing strong non-negotiable confidentiality requirements on Stats New Zealand and researchers who are seeking access to it. That means that people who are supplying data can be very confident that it will be used in a way that they can trust by Statistics New Zealand. That actually goes beyond the powers that are laid down in the Privacy Act.So this is about making sure that the data that people provide is safe that it is accessed safely as that is a core function. I do thank the committee for their work thank the members of the public who provided submissions and commend this bill to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ian McKelvie): The question is that the motion be agreed to.