Ethnic views on statistics sought

Press, 19 May 1984, Page 25

Ethnic views on statistics sought

PA Wellington The Statistics Department wants help from ethnic communities to gather racial and cultural information. It has met members from the Maori. Pacific Island. Greek, Indian, Cambodian. Polish, Jewish, and Czechoslovakian communities at the Wellington Multicultural Education Resource Centre to discuss the groups' attitude to the way ethnic statistics are gathered and used. Representatives from the States Services Commission, the Planning Council, and the Education Department also attended. The convener of the meeting, Mr Len Cook, from the Statistics Department in Christchurch, said the department was keen to hear the views of ethnic groups to find a more acceptable format of collating and using statistics. He said the department received several submissions requesting an investigation into the collation and use of racial and cultural information One of the questions raised at the meeting was whether there is a need to classify ethnic groups separately and, if so, how. Members of the ethnic communities said they felt the present format of gathering statistics is unreliable. It does not allow them to identify their ancestry, predominant bloodstock, and with which culture they identify.