Managing Complex and Diverse Data Sources

Shaun Coppard Manager, Commercial Address Data

About Australia Post

Australias first postmaster appointed on 25 April 1809. Federation in 1901 merged six colonial post and telegraph departments to Postmaster General with uniform postage rate and service to all of Australia. 1 July 1975 the PMG split into Australia Post and Telecom Australia. Late 1990s introduced new sorting equipment through the $500M FuturePOST program.

Australia Post Facts and Figures

Deliver nearly 20 million mail articles to over 11 million addresses every day Operate over 4,400 retail outlets Maintain over 16,000 Street Posting Boxes Second most trusted brand in Australia Over 4 million transactions for Identity Service clients

Need for national address dataset

Redirecting mail Processing mail Address is core to many processes, products and services Address Validation

Address Reference File

Change of Address

Acquisition Mail Spatial Dataset

Address Counts

Building the dataset

Early 1990s Street Ranges 1-19 and 2-20 Late 1990s Delivery staff validate by reviewing reports 2000 Mid 1990s Populate from other sources Electoral Roll, Phone Book Early 2000s System for Delivery staff to maintain Mid 2000s Additional system to maintain more attributes 2011 Late 2000s Replatform to combine all systems into one

1990

Building a solid foundation

Postcode Delivery Address Sorting Frame Attributes NEW One set of rules Standardised national processes Quality standard applied & measured

Address Management

Address Links

OLD Inconsistent business rules Varying processes Challenges with quality

Different terminology/training Thorough training and support

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Addresses how hard can they be?

211 LA TROBE ST 339 SWANSTON ST 360 ELIZABETH ST

198-202 LITTLE LONSDALE ST

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Elizabeth St
512

Vanity addressing
543-551

SURRY HILLS 2010

336

Cleveland St

REDFERN 2016 516 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills 2010 should be Redfern 2016 545 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills 2010 should be 543-551 336 Cleveland St, Strawberry Hills 2010 should be Surry Hills
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516

Alternate representations
50 Albert St 15 16 13 14 11 12 9 10 7 8 5 6 3 4 1 2

Official Address: 1/50 Albert St Customer Preferred Address: 1 Edward St Linking addresses: 1/50 Albert St Synonym > 1 Edward St

Albert St
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Edward St

Maintaining data using different sources

Delivery Staff Change of Address Address Management Units
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Spatial Analysis

State Land Authorities Mail Processing Address Learning Customer Feedback / Queries

Address Database

Connecting it all together

512

Address Database

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Applying a quality standard

Policy guidelines and principles to follow Process ensure all steps are relevant Procedures situations that dont fit the norm Data Quality Metrics measure, publish and respond Governance advice and direction

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Quality levels fit for purpose

Quality level depends of objective
Sort to Delivery Centre Postie Round Sequenced Delivery Deliverable addresses Completeness

Gazetted Address vs Commonly Used Supporting products and services

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Data Quality Metrics

Clearly defined Measurable Relevant Controllable Reportable Data Quality Index - %, Number, Weighting Measures: Duplication, Accuracy, Consistency, Completeness, Conformity, Integrity

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Governance
Not about controlling Setting a vision Stakeholders from different areas Keep it real and relevant Empower them to make the decisions Set the quality measures and targets Review policy and process
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Lessons Learnt
Establish a Vision and keep reviewing Diverse stakeholders with an interest in outcome Getting scope right link to vision and stakeholders Challenge the norm Identify real business benefits Users and stakeholders will define success

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Are we there yet?

Journey not a destination Adding quality measures Review and improve processes Combining other datasets to build new products and services Continually review and challenge

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