Through Peer Reviews on Development Finance Statistics, members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and the OECD jointly assess how countries collect, report and disseminate data on their development co-operation. These reviews help countries respond to the increasing demand for comprehensive, reliable and accessible statistics on development finance, in a context of frequent changes to reporting requirements, staff-turnover and often complex, decentralised reporting systems. The “ODA Statistics and Reporting Section” of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) takes a strong position to maintaining the integrity of the official development assistance (ODA) it reports to the OECD. It is encouraged to pursue those efforts, as well as those to report against the SDGs and to build up the statistical capacity of developing countries to report on their own SDG achievements. DFAT needs to invest in an automated process to merge DFAT and other government’s data. DFAT should also consider making project data available on its website and focus on comprehensive data products, such as interactive charts. Australia should remain attentive that the overarching policy on national interest does not contradict ODA’s main objective.
