About the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

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Expertise

We provide statistical information that governments and the community can use to promote discussion and make decisions on health, housing and community services. In particular we:

• collect and analyse statistics and information (on our own or with others);
• develop methodologies for designing and analysing statistical collections;
• assess the provision, use, cost and effectiveness of health, housing and community services;
• help others to identify and define their information needs;
• develop national statistical standards and classifications; and
• promote rationalisation of health, housing and community services information activity across national agencies.
   

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We work closely with Australian Government, State and Territory health and community services departments, and with peak non-government organisations.

We work in partnership with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and apply our statistical analysis expertise to ABS census and survey data.

We collaborate with research centres around Australia.

We lead national health, housing and community services information management and data development, through the National Health Information Management Group, the National Community Services Information Management Group, and the National Indigenous Housing Information Implementation Group.

We contribute to international statistical standards through our work with organisations such as the WHO and the OECD.

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The Australian Government funds some of our work, but we also provide value-for-money services on contract to a variety of government and non-government clients. We seek to link our skills with those of others who share our aims. We work with clients on a number of bases:

• Long term partnerships: where we use our expertise to meet clients' broad information needs.
• Collaborative arrangements: where we use the legislative backing of our Act to enable researchers in universities and similar organisations to undertake work relevant to our mission.
• Specific projects: where our professional and administrative expertise is used to assist in the production of national health, housing and community services information.
• Various information services: where we compile unpublished statistical information from our data holdings.
   

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Privacy

The security of our data holdings is vitally important. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Act 1987 prescribes strict conditions to ensure the security of the data we hold and manage.

The AIHW Act also provides for penalties (including imprisonment) for breaches of confidentiality. Our staff - and those we collaborate with - cannot be forced to reveal confidential AIHW data, even in a court of law.

To reinforce the protection of our data, the AIHW Ethics Committee was established in 1987 under the AIHW Act. Access to identifiable data for health and welfare research purposes is granted only with the consent of the Ethics Committee. Researchers who are given access to identifiable information must sign an undertaking that binds them to the confidentiality provisions of the AIHW Act.

Adherence to the Information Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act 1988 underpins all the Institute's work. This is also a requirement for researchers who use AIHW data.

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Independence

As a national agency we have established close working relationships with all Australian Government, State and Territory health, housing and community services agencies. We have maintained these relationships through the ebb and flow of political and administrative changes.

Our approach is impartial and objective, as are our reports, website content, and other products.

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Innovation

Our services are provided by highly competent staff who have contemporary skills and knowledge in areas including:

• statistical methodologies and analysis
• epidemiology and demography
• data and metadata development and management
• health and welfare service delivery

Some 80 percent of our staff have university degrees, with half of those being at master's level or higher.

Our staff bring a variety of cultural perspectives and experience to their work. Together, we have a rich corporate culture, based around our shared commitment to producing high quality work.

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Responsiveness

Do you need to:

• Monitor, review or evaluate policy initiatives?
• Monitor the incidence of a particular disease?
• Know how many people were hospitalised for specific causes?
• Research the incidence of death from a particular cause, or in a particular area?

We can provide services in fields such as:

• Defining and classifying data
• Developing minimum data sets
• Developing and managing disease monitoring systems
• Managing data collections
• Identifying information requirements
• Developing and testing data standards.

Our services can be provided as an integrated package, e.g. classification development, data dictionaries and minimum data set management, or individually, e.g. analysis of specific data.

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Accessibility

Drawing on our multidisciplinary expertise, we produce:

Reports

Our reports range from our two major biennial reports, Australia's Health and Australia's Welfare, to short discussion papers. Because we collect and hold data in both health and welfare fields, we can focus on specific subjects or produce cross-sector thematic reports drawing on material from several subject areas.

Other products

• METeOR (Australia's metadata online registry for health, community services and housing assistance)
• Data standards - National Health Data Dictionary, National Community Services Data Dictionary, National Housing Assistance Data Dictionary (including navigable CD-ROM versions)
• Online data sets ("cubes") with an interactive build-your-own data table facility
   

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This document gives just a glimpse of the Institute's range of services and products. Please phone the Institute, tel 61 2 6244 1000 or email , for further information on how we can provide products and services for your organisation.