The work of Queensland Government Statistician's Office (QGSO) is governed by a key piece of legislation that has a direct bearing on its statistical activities and functions — the Statistical Returns Act 1896. This Act facilitates the collection of official statistics by QGSO.
Under this Act, Queensland Government Statistician may collect and publish statistics in relation to: population and vital statistics; immigration and emigration; social statistics; factories and manufacturing industries; wages, employment and unemployment; tourism, recreational and household services; imports and exports; shipping; transport and freight; banking, insurance, finance and business services; land tenure and occupancy; agricultural, pastoral and kindred industries; mining and mining industries; retail and distributive industries; forestry; fisheries; local government; water conservation and supply; building and construction industries; energy sources and industries; the environment; and any other prescribed matters.
All information collected by QGSO is bound by the secrecy provisions of the Act. This prohibits any person divulging or communicating any information obtained under the Act except in accordance with a direction from the Queensland Government Statistician.
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