Consultant Engineering

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    NAME OF ORGANISATION
    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW
    In recent times there has been considerable interest in extending the ABS Service Industries Surveys program to produce more comprehensive and more regular data on various Australian service industries. The Consultant Engineering Services Survey is part of this thrust.

    Development of the survey commenced on 1/7/2001 and involves consultation with peak bodies and industry sources including potential data users. These consultations assist in determining survey scope and content, and provide some appreciation of the level of coverage provided by the frame.

    Form testing was undertaken in November 2001 and February 2002 with final adjustments to the questionnaire being made across march, April and May 2002. Despatch will occur mid-August 2002 in line with the coordinated annual despatch of ABS Economic Collections.

    Published output is scheduled for released in June 2003.

    PURPOSE
    To provide key measures on the performance of the Consultant Engineering Services industry and to identify the nature and structure of the industry in terms of employment, income, costs and its contribution to the Australian economy.

    The Association of Consulting Engineers Australia (ACEA) have been actively involved in the development of the survey both in 1995-96 and for the current survey. They have a strong interest in better understanding the structure of their industry in terms of employment and financial contribution.

    Internally the collection will be primarily driven by National Accounts requirements for industry aggregates within ANZSIC class 7823 with the Environmental Statistics Unit identified as another major client. This demand is for Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) class data. This survey ranks with the other important service industries with an expected turnover in excess of $4 billion.

    The Economic Activity Survey (EAS) collects employment and detailed financial data from a wide range of industries, including the Consultant Engineering Services industry. To avoid duplication, the Consultant Engineering Services Industry Survey collects some employment and financial data from a subset of its sample at a level of detail that meets various EAS needs (EAS in turn, collects even more detailed financial information from a subset of its sample to meet the needs of the Input-Output Section of the ABS. The Consultant Engineering Services Survey will be part of the Input-Output industry requirements ).

    It is important that the conduct of the 2001-02 survey of this industry has a similar scope to the previous survey of 1995-96 as comparable time series information is viewed as important by both the NAB and the ACEA.

    SCOPE
    The scope of the survey is businesses as recorded on the ABS Business Register classified to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) class 7823 - Consultant Engineering Services which consists of businesses mainly engaged in providing consultant engineering services.

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework
    The survey of Consultant Engineering Services is part of the larger Business Services Survey and will be undertaken as part of the ABS program of annual economic surveys. The data items will be consistent with Economic Activity Survey (EAS) specifications, and outputs will provide key financial statistics in respect of ANZSIC 7823 and National Accounts requirements.

    Main outputs
    The 2001-02 Consultant Engineering Services Industry, Australia publication will be the major output produced from this survey of ANZSIC Class 78423.

    The survey output will include data items specifically tailored to the industry to satisfy the following requirements:

    • an income breakdown by type of engineering service, with an estimate of the income generated both by work within Australia and overseas
    • a detailed breakdown of expenditure
    • a detailed breakdown of employment data (full-time /part-time, male/female)
    • balance sheet information on assets and liabilities
    • performance ratios
    • State data for key items ie employment, wages and salaries and total income

    The data outputs provided to the Economic Activity Survey (EAS) include all of the above data plus data on assets, liabilities and capital expenditure.

    Classifications
    ANZSIC
    According to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)(Cat No. 1292.0), each business is classified to a single industry. The industry allocated is based on an estimate of the primary income earning activity of the business irrespective of whether a range of activities or a single activity is undertaken by the business.

    The Consultant Engineering Survey collects data classified according ANZSIC. Businesses were selected on the basis of being classified to ANZSIC 7823 on the ABS business register.

    Data is available at the ANZSIC class level for ANZSIC 7823.

    Other concepts (summary)
    Data definitions conform with standard question wordings maintained by the ABS so that data items are consistent with other SIS surveys and other ABS collections and may be aggregated with them in compiling National Accounts.

    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT

    Comments and/or Other Regions
    Not applicable

    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    Adhoc

    Frequency comments
    The Consultant Engineering Services Survey is an ad hoc survey currently repeated every 3 to 6 years.

    The Consultant Engineering Services Survey 2001-2002 is the lastest cycle of an existing repeat survey previously conducted in respect of 1992-93 and 1995-96.

    COLLECTION HISTORY
    Collection conducted in respect of 1992-93, 1995-96 and 2001-02.

    DATA AVAILABILITY
    Yes

    Data availability comments
    Data available in publication Consultant Engineering Services, Australia (cat. no. 8693.0)


    DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
    17/09/2004 08:24 AM