Next week the NSW Branch of the Statistical Society, together with the University of Sydney and the Australian Epidemiological Assocation is presenting a public lecture by Professor Bruce Armstrong on the retention of personal data in the upcoming census. Further details are below. Best wishes, Michael === Date: Tuesday 12th July Time: 6.30-7.30 (refreshments from 6pm) Venue: Charles Perkins Centre Auditorium, Building D17, Johns Hopkins Drive (off Missenden Road), the University of Sydney Title: Retention of names and addressess collected in the 2016 Census: A cautious step into known territory Abstract: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will retain names and addresses collected in the 2016 Census of Population and Housing for up to four years. Its primary intention is enablement of linkage of personal census data to personal data held in other administrative data collections, e.g education and health. This presentation will describe the ABS’ stated intentions more fully, examine risks to personal privacy and their amelioration and consider what might be achievable were it to take a bolder approach. Speaker: Bruce Armstrong is an epidemiologist and public health physician whose career has encompassed research, academia and public service. The last included periods as Commissioner for Health for WA, Director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Director of Research and Registers (including the NSW Central Cancer Registry) at Cancer Council NSW, founding Chairman of the Sax Institute (then the Institute for Health Research) and Chairman of the NSW Bureau of Health Information from its inception in 2009 until late 2015, when he returned to his "roots" in WA. Bruce is recognised internationally for his research into the causes and prevention of cancer, having published over 600 papers in scientific books and journals. He has retired from full-time employment but continues to actively pursue his interests as an Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney and an Adjunct Professor at the University of WA. Bruce was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1998 for his work in cancer epidemiology and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2000. In 2015 he was listed by Thomson Reuters among ~3,000 other scientists as The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds on the basis of their number of highly cited papers published in 2003 to 2013.