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Array
(
    [entityType] => ITEM
    [entity] => Array
        (
            [contextId] => aims
            [description] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Responsible for collection, compilation, and publication of statistical and related information regarding the commercial, industrial, agricultural, financial, social, economic, general activities, and the health of the people of New Zealand.
                )

            [id] => ADTO
            [idSort] => ADTO
            [name] => Census and Statistics Department
            [custom] => Array
                (
                    [custom1] => 1.This agency description was compiled as part of a project to capture the finding aids created prior to 1987 into the GAIMS system. Dates of agency are based on dates of record group holdings.
                )

            [identifier] => Array
                (
                    [priref] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => 2057
                        )

                )

            [agentControlRelation] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Realm of New Zealand
                            [type] => controlled_by
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1947-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => exact
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1966-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Organisation
                            [relationHasSource] => A0020
                        )

                    [1] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Dominion of New Zealand
                            [type] => controlled_by
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1907-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1947-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => exact
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Organisation
                            [relationHasSource] => A0009
                        )

                    [2] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Self-Governing Colony of New Zealand
                            [type] => controlled_by
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1881-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1907-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Organisation
                            [relationHasSource] => A0005
                        )

                )

            [agentMandateEstablishing] => Census and Statistics Act 1910
            [agentMandateOther] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Statistics Act 1975
                    [1] => Statistics Act 1955
                    [2] => Census and Statistics Act 1926
                )

            [agentType] => Record group
            [authorityRelation] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Census sub-enumerator maps
                            [type] => controlling
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1911-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1966-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Series
                            [relationHasTarget] => 18999
                        )

                    [1] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Registered subject files
                            [type] => controlling
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1881-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [hasEndDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1959-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Series
                            [relationHasTarget] => 18998
                        )

                )

            [digitalRecordInArchive] => 
            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                (
                    [type] => YearStart
                    [normalizedValue] => 1881-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => approximate
                            [1] => yearOnly
                        )

                )

            [hasEndDate] => Array
                (
                    [type] => YearEnd
                    [normalizedValue] => 1966-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                        (
                            [0] => approximate
                            [1] => yearOnly
                        )

                )

            [history] => 
1840-1910: Early Statistics in New Zealand  
Statistics have been recorded by government agencies in New Zealand since 1840. Following British practice The Colonial Secretary’s Office compiled Blue Books of statistical data about New Zealand. Accurate statistical information such as trade, income, and population (both European and Maori) was seen as vital to the efficient administration of the growing colony. In 1854 the Registrar-General (of Births Deaths and Marriages) became responsible for maintaining official statistics. The Census Act 1858 formalised the taking of a census every three years and after 1881, every five years.  


1910-1919: Establishment and the Impact of War 
Urged by the British Government, who were unimpressed with the standard of statistical work in New Zealand, the Census and Statistics Act was passed in 1910. This legislation formally established the Census and Statistics Office and the role of Government Statistician. The key functions of the Office were: 

The taking of a census at regular periods to record the demographic changes in New Zealand’s population. 

Conducting surveys and studies relating to economic activity such as the Monthly Abstract of Statistics and making this information readily available.

Publication of statistical information and related articles in reference works such as the New Zealand Statistics and the New Zealand Official Yearbook.


The Census and Statistics Office remained attached to the Registrar-General’s office and experienced modest growth as state intervention in the economy increased. In 1915 an amendment to the 1910 Act established the Census and Statistics Office as a separate branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. This split from the Registrar-General was a significant improvement in the standing of the Government Statistician who now reported to the Under Secretary of the Internal Affairs Department and had direct access to the Minister. 
Wartime regulation of the economy from 1914 to 1918 produced considerable demand on the resources of the Census and Statistics Office. Administration of the National Registration Act 1915 and the Military Service Act 1916 was added to the duties of the Office. Along with maintaining manpower registrations the Government Statistician was also charged with compiling and keeping up to date a register of persons classified as aliens in New Zealand. These additional functions hastened a dramatic (albeit temporary) expansion in staff numbers and consumed most of the energies of the Census and Statistics Office up to 1919. 
1919-1939: Expansion and Retrenchment
Throughout the 1920s the Office was fully engaged in surveys and studies of a wide range of economic activity. The creation of a Consumers Price Index and the systematic collection of employment data were significant achievements during this period. The Census and Statistics Act 1926 consolidated the gains of the 1910 Act but did not materially add to the size and role of the Census and Statistics Office.
With the onset of the Depression in 1929 the Government Statistician gained an additional role as Commissioner of Unemployment. The administration of unemployment registration and payments was relatively brief and reallocated to other government agencies two years later. A development of greater significance occurred in 1931 when, as a result of public service rationalisation, the Census and Statistics Office came under the control of the Department of Commerce and Industries, Tourist and Publicity. Operating under severe budget restraints, the fortunes of the Office reached their nadir during this period with the abandonment of the 1931 Census.
By the mid-1930s New Zealand was beginning to recover from the Depression. The election of a Labour government in 1935 introduced a greater degree of state intervention into the economy. Increased requirements for statistical data and analysis gave the Census and Statistics Office new impetus. In 1936 the Office was raised to the status of a separate government department and was renamed the Census and Statistics Department. 


1939-1966: The Second World War and the Post-War Period
Government wartime measures reduced the budget and size of the Census and Statistics Department from 1939 to 1945. Unlike during the previous war manpower registration was no longer administered by the Department. The work of the Department was accorded low priority by the Public Service Commissioner for the duration of hostilities.
After 1945 the Census and Statistics Department enjoyed a period of sustained growth as the Government commenced post-war economic and social planning. The taking of the Census was renewed in September 1945 and in 1949 the Department produced the first official estimates of National Income. 
The Statistics Act 1955 was a culmination of the progress the Census and Statistics Department had made over the last four decades. The main function of the Department was now predominantly the collection and analysis of statistical information, encompassing all aspects of New Zealand life. Greater attention was also given to collaboration with other government agencies in the collection, compilation and publishing of statistics. The periodic taking of the Census remained an important duty but it was longer the Department’s primary role. This evolutionary change in functions was underlined by a change of name to the Department of Statistics in 1956. 
Post-war changes were made to the structure and organisation of the Statistics Department. A Research and Technical Unit was added in 1953 and the position of Deputy Government Statistician created in 1956. In 1962 the work of the Department was decentralised amongst offices located in Auckland and Christchurch. Apart from additional staff and resources allocated during the years the Census was taken, the Department of Statistics remained a modest sized government agency within the State Sector.
The Statistics Act 1975 formally established the responsibilities of other government agencies to supply statistics to the Statistics Department. In 1993 the Department became Statistics New Zealand. 


Sources:
Green, David. Statistics Count An Illustrated History of Statistics New Zealand, Statistics New Zealand, Wellington 2003. 


Roberts, H.S. (ed.) A History of Statistics in New Zealand, The New Zealand Statistical Association (Inc), Wellington 1999.


Wood, George, Sir. Progress in Official Statistics – A Personal History, Department of Statistics, Wellington 1976.
            [isAssociatedWithPlace] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [location] => Wellington
                        )

                )

            [itemType] => Agency
            [rdfType] => agent
            [recordIsMissing] => 
            [sequentialRelation] => Array
                (
                    [0] => Array
                        (
                            [name] => Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages
                            [type] => predecessor
                            [hasBeginningDate] => Array
                                (
                                    [normalizedValue] => 1916-01-01T00:00:00.0Z
                                    [dateQualifier] => Array
                                        (
                                            [0] => approximate
                                            [1] => yearOnly
                                        )

                                )

                            [itemType] => Agency
                            [relationHasTarget] => ADAQ
                        )

                )

            [setSpec] => agency
        )

)