Gary Dunnet: A life in service of official statistics

Meet Gary Dunnet, Deputy Chief Methodologist at Stats NZ.?

For over 34 years, Gary has lived and breathed statistics as an applied mathematician by trade and a world-leading official statistician.?

“Starting at Stats NZ was a bit of an accident, as it was the first job I got out of university!”, Gary says.??

Despite having worked in National Statistics Offices (NSOs) around the world, Gary reflects the best thing about his work at Stats NZ has been the chance to get involved in a wide range of projects.?

“A highlight of my career was documenting the processes used in the production of Stats NZ’s official statistics. This was later adopted by the UN as the Generic Statistical Business Process Model and has since informed international best-practise for NSOs producing official statistics around the world.”?

During his extensive career, Gary has been internationally recognised for his work and sits on a number of groups as part of the UN high-level group for the modernisation of official statistics, Executive Committee for the International Association for Official Statistics, External Advisory Board for Statistics Singapore’s strategic direction and other methodological review groups.??

The UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics are integral to Gary and his work as a statistician.??

“I’ve been around so long that the Principles have seeped into me and my values”, reflects Gary.??

In the 30 years since the Fundamental Principles were created, Gary has seen and strongly supported a shift to make statistics open, transparent and accessible for all. ?

“For example, putting out notifications on Stats NZ’s releases means that people can depend on us to release information when we say we will, and using technology has allowed for more equitable access in Stats NZ’s release process.??

“Stats NZ now allows for early access to be given to data for experts to provide insights and commentary, such as in our environmental reporting measures. This means our statistics can tell a clearer story about the world around us.”?

“Building trust and credibility is absolutely critical. Trust takes such a long time to build but seconds to lose.”?

For Gary, adhering to the Fundamental Principles means good-quality statistics that benefit everyday people.??

“Statistics play a crucial role in our daily lives and measure what matters most to us: population estimates help us decide where to build schools, measures of fresh water tell us where we can swim, and inflation measures impact the cost of everyday products and services.”?

“If you want a well-functioning democracy and public services, you need good information. And we’re in the information game”.?

Stats NZ is leading Aotearoa New Zealand’s celebration of 30 years of the Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics, in particular, Principle 2.??

Principle 2 is about trust and ensuring everyday people have confidence in official statistics. This Principle guides statisticians to live up to professionalism, scientific principles and ethics in the way they collect, process, store and present statistics.?

Click here For more information.

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