Over the past 20 to 30 years statistics as a science has grown in
significance. Not a day passes without reference to the latest statistics by
the print, audio and audio-visual media. The Northern Territory Government has been part of this growth and
like other public and private sector organisations collects a broad range of
statistics. The Northern Territory Department of Mines and Energy participates
in the government's statistics collection process. Statistics collected and
published by the Department of Mines and Energy include geoscientific;
mining and exploration tenure; environmental (e.g. mine site waste water
management); production of minerals, oil and gas; mining sector
employment; and occupational health and safety. The importance of statistics collection to the Northern Territory
Government is discussed in the paper.