This week in the Goldfields Art Centre I met Alan Radford and Steve Austin of the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Alan and Steve are both working as Engagement managers.
They have – as we discussed – possibly the most nerdy activities in the world competing with the CERN orienteering club. (If you know of more nerdy jobs, let me know)
Anyway – they let me know about Table Builder (read more cut/paste info after the break) which is a new system that allows you to make your own data products from the ABS data pool. We also discussed that as the census happens every 5 years and the population of Kalgoorlie changes by 50% every 2 years (completely ambit claim that they agreed with in a completely ambit manner) then the census probably is only a snapshot in a rapidly changing stream, (like a cross-section of a breaking wave – it is true, but may not reflect what’s before and after the snapshot). Venkat’s article on stream citizens is relevant in the Goldfields – FIFO miners, snowbirds, Aboriginal people, Highschool students, expat New Zealanders ( The greatest concentration of Kiwis outside NZ is here) all share high-mobility in common.
So, how can Australia measure it’s flowing cultures better?
Image: Animated screen showing a pile of suitcases in an Airport somewhere in the Stream.
