Custom Connector
Australian Bureau of Statistics Connector
Australia
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Connector is a custom GCP integration providing seamless access to the ABS Data API. It retrieves economic, social, and Census data leveraging the SDMX standard, supporting queries for data and metadata in JSON, XML, and CSV with flexible filtering and structural exploration.
Overview
Integration Overview
This document provides a detailed guide for each integration point, its purpose, configuration, and workflow support using the ABS Data Connector.
- getData. Retrieve data from a specific dataflow with filtering options.
- getStructuresByAgencyId. List all structures of a specific type for an agency.
- getLatestStructure. Retrieve the latest version of a specific structure.
- getStructures. Retrieve a specific version of a structure.
Documentation
Detailed Integration Documentation
Get Data Retrieval
| Action | getData |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Retrieves data from a specified ABS dataflow, with options to filter by dimensions, time periods, and output formats (JSON, XML, CSV). |
| Configuration | Configure the base URL via CONNECTOR_ENV_ABSDATAAPI_BASE_URL. |
| Parameters | Required: dataflowIdentifier – {agencyId},{dataflowId},{version} (e.g. ABS,CPI,1.1.0); dataKey – dimension codes or “all” (e.g. 1.115486.10.50.Q). Optional: startPeriod, endPeriod, format (csvfilewithlabels, csvfile, jsondata, genericdata, structurespecificdata), detail (full, dataonly, serieskeysonly, nodata; default full), dimensionAtObservation (TIME_PERIOD, AllDimensions). |
| Output | Successful: data in the specified format — SDMX-JSON (header, datasets, structure), SDMX-ML, or CSV. Failure: error details (404 no records found). |
| Workflow example | Execute getData with dataflowIdentifier=ABS,CPI,1.1.0 and dataKey=1.115486.10.50.Q to analyze Consumer Price Index data. |
Get Structures By Agency ID
| Action | getStructuresByAgencyId |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Lists all structures of a specific type (e.g. dataflow, datastructure) maintained by an agency such as ABS — for discovering available datasets and metadata structures. |
| Configuration | Configure the base URL via CONNECTOR_ENV_ABSDATAAPI_BASE_URL. |
| Parameters | Required: structureType (enum: dataflow, datastructure, codelist, conceptscheme, categoryscheme, contentconstraint, actualconstraint, agencyscheme, categorisation, hierarchicalcodelist); agencyId (e.g. ABS). Optional: detail (full, allstubs, referencestubs, referencepartial, allcompletestubs, referencecompletestubs; default full). |
| Output | Successful: JSON/XML with header and a structures array (id, agencyID, version, name, description). Failure: error details (404 no records found). |
| Workflow example | Execute getStructuresByAgencyId with structureType=dataflow and agencyId=ABS to identify available dataflows for data queries. |
Get Latest Structure
| Action | getLatestStructure |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Retrieves the latest version of a specific structure (e.g. dataflow, codelist) for a given agency and structure ID — metadata for dataset integration or analysis. |
| Configuration | Configure the base URL via CONNECTOR_ENV_ABSDATAAPI_BASE_URL. |
| Parameters | Required: structureType (enum: dataflow, datastructure, codelist, conceptscheme, categoryscheme, contentconstraint, actualconstraint, agencyscheme, categorisation, hierarchicalcodelist); agencyId (e.g. ABS); structureId (e.g. CPI). Optional: references (none, parents, parentsandsiblings, children, descendants, all; default none), detail. |
| Output | Successful: JSON/XML with header and structure details (id, agencyID, name, description, dimensions or codes). Failure: error details (404 no records found). |
| Workflow example | Execute getLatestStructure with structureType=datastructure, agencyId=ABS, structureId=CPI to understand the dataset’s structure before querying. |
Get Structures
| Action | getStructures |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Retrieves a specific version of a structure (e.g. dataflow, codelist) for a given agency, structure ID, and version — precise metadata for integration or validation. |
| Configuration | Configure the base URL via CONNECTOR_ENV_ABSDATAAPI_BASE_URL. |
| Parameters | Required: structureType (enum: dataflow, datastructure, codelist, conceptscheme, categoryscheme, contentconstraint, actualconstraint, agencyscheme, categorisation, hierarchicalcodelist); agencyId (e.g. ABS); structureId (e.g. CPI); structureVersion (e.g. 1.1.0). Optional: references, detail. |
| Output | Successful: JSON/XML with header and structure details (id, agencyID, version, name, description, dimensions or codes). Failure: error details (404 no records found). |
| Workflow example | Execute getStructures with structureType=datastructure, agencyId=ABS, structureId=CPI, structureVersion=1.1.0 to confirm metadata for historical analysis. |
Example Workflow: Economic Data Analysis
| Retrieve available dataflows | Use getStructuresByAgencyId with structureType=dataflow and agencyId=ABS to identify target dataflows (e.g. ABS,CPI,1.1.0). |
|---|---|
| Query dataset structure | Execute getLatestStructure with structureType=datastructure, agencyId=ABS, structureId=CPI to understand dimensions and codes. |
| Fetch data | Use getData with dataflowIdentifier=ABS,CPI,1.1.0 and dataKey=1.115486.10.50.Q, then integrate into an analytics dashboard. |
| Validate specific version | Use getStructures with structureVersion=1.1.0 to confirm metadata and ensure data consistency for historical analysis. |
Support
For technical support, contact custom-connectors-support@isolutions.sa.