1. To whom it may concern:
This letter is in regard to Mr Christopher Cornforth who worked for me in the Quality
Management section of the 2001 Census Data Processing Centre (DPC) over a period of nine
months.
During that time I found Chris to be a committed and responsible person who demonstrated
an organised and intelligent approach to his work. He showed the ability to work both
individually and oontribute as a ieam mem'oer. He communicates weil and proved to be a
constructive and articulate representative at regular "Quality Improvement meetings". These
meetings involved staff from all areas and all levels of the DPC, including management.
Over the term of the DPC, the Quality Management team which Chris was a part of had to
remain flexible and responsive, as they were required to work on a range of differertt
processes and quality assessment tasks, often within competing deadlines. The work Chris
undertook required close attention to clearly defined but often complex (and sometimes
changrng) rules and procedures relating to the coding, processing and quality assurance of
Census data. Chris showed the capacity to quickly familiarise himself with a range of new
rules and procedures. On a technical level, his work involved regular use of a number of
customised data processing and interrogation systems. He was able to quickly acquire skills
and be flexible in using these.
As an 'adjudicator', Chris had to be fully acquainted with the rules for coding all topics
included on the 2001 Census form. A major part of this role was to evaluate the work of
others, determining whether they were coding correctly. Chris was able to provide
constructive written feedback when required, focussing on areas that would improve levels of
knowledge and data coding abilities (thus improving data quality). Data discrepancies might
also have been due to data processing system bugs' and Chris was able to identiff such
possibilities and quickly inform line managers if something needed further investigation.
The DPC employed an extremely diverse workplace, with staff from a vast range of
backgrounds, cultures and levels of experience. Chris has shown that he is able to treat
everyone with equity and fairness. Chris also consistently applied safe working practices and
contributed to the DPC's Administrative forum which considered optimal working practices
and working conditions for staff employed at the DPC. As noted above, Chris has been a
valued contributor to our team and he will be missed.
I am happy to provide further comment should this be required, and can be contacted on (02)
6252 5000 or by email at: di.chambers@abs.gov.au
Yours sincerely, Di Ch
///
{/t':,", ,/6Manager (Quality Management)
2001 Census DPC (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
1615102