Faith in Australian numbers: new pressures on public data communication in Australia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT Before the pandemic, Australia was already increasingly reliant on statistics for political debate. This was reflected not only in high levels of trust in statistical institutions, but in the privileged position of ‘data-driven decisions’ by politicians and the public. From a series of interviews across the public service, academia, media and politics, this article describes the exacerbated conditions of professionals working with public data in Australia during the pandemic, detailing both actual and perceived aspects of new pressures. Public health communication that emphasised data-driven decisions led to public demand for data access, increasing the work of scientists, public servants, researchers, and journalists to refine and communicate data releases and commentary more frequently – which in turn increased demand for more data from all. The acute pandemic pressure also revealed pre-existing issues with data management and infrastructure, and caused previously siloed professionals to stretch across multiple roles. Such acceleration necessitates less time and expertise available for interpretation or careful management. Alternatively, failure to accelerate can result in real or perceived gaps in knowledge that can discourage trust in state statistics. These reflections are critical, as laborious stopgap solutions – intended to be temporary in a crisis – seem to have settled in to stay.