8601.0 - Service Industries Statistics Newsletter, Apr 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 15/05/2008   
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A Message from the NSC Director
Annual Integrated Collection
Review of Annual Service Industries Survey (SIS) Program
Development of 2008-09 service industry surveys
Recent ABS service industries publications
Upcoming ABS service industries publications
Alternative sources of Industry Statistics
Further information
Announcements
Goods and Services NSC Contacts

A MESSAGE FROM THE NSC DIRECTOR


Welcome to the first issue of the service industries statistics newsletter for 2008. As usual this newsletter provides information on recent service industries related issues and updates, describes ABS work related to service industries statistics, advises on recent ABS publications and informs users about forthcoming Service Industries publications.

Since the last newsletter we have been very busy. As many of you are aware we undertook a significant consultation processes to finalise the development work for the originally planned 2007/2008 reference year survey program which included - Pubs, Taverns and Bars, Clubs, Libraries, Museums and Legal Services. We would like to say thank you to the many of you who made very valuable contributions to our consultation process. Unfortunately as most of you by now know, since that work was completed the ABS has been subject to significant budget cuts and as a result many of the planned surveys will not be going ahead. The Pubs, Taverns and Bars, collection as well as the Clubs collection and the Libraries and Archives collections have unfortunately been cancelled. Legal Services and the Museums survey will still be conducted. We are currently in the process of examining various other methods to try to fill the data gap left behind by the cancellation of these surveys.

During the course of the 2008 calendar year we expect to again be speaking to many of you as we undertake the consultation processes for the development of the Community Services surveys for the 2008/2009 reference year. We are also commencing some work on a broader review of the industry statistics work-program as a whole which I hope will involve many users and will certainly require a great deal of thought as we try to balance user needs and resource availability with increased use of administrative data.

Last year some key staff moved on from the Goods and Services National Statistics Centre. Please refer to page 4 for an updated list of Goods and Services NSC contacts.

We would appreciate any feedback you would like to provide regarding the usefulness of the information presented in this newsletter.

Melanie Taylor
Director
Goods and Service Industries National Statistics Centre


CURRENT ISSUES

ANNUAL INTEGRATED COLLECTION

The Annual Integrated Collection (AIC) integrates the suite of accounting based collections with an annual reference period into a single system. All annual economic surveys previously conducted under separate banners in support of compiling Australian National Accounts (ANA) are now brought under a single umbrella and form part of the AIC.

The AIC creates an improved, responsive, flexible and more holistic environment for the delivery of annual statistics. While the main focus of the AIC will be on financial data and supporting the compilation of ANA, opportunities will arise to collect other data that fits into the business framework of accounting based collections, e.g. environment, social, and information and technology data.

The AIC comprises a core industry collection to provide key measures on the financial performance of Australian industries on an annual basis, plus a rolling program of industry specific collections. The core industry collection will generally provide data at the Australia New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC) subdivision level, although for some industries finer level data will be available. The rolling program will undertake detailed industry studies at different frequencies to provide detailed financial data, product information and activity type data, as well as alternative views of various activities. The rolling program is intended to be flexible and responsive to changes in user requirements, whilst minimising costs and provider load. One of the AIC's aspirations is to have the results from the core and rolling program released approximately 12 months after the reference period.

The AIC is also establishing a "complementary" program to aid in the production of fine level industry and other small domain statistics for key financial data items. The complementary program will explore the use of data substitution (in particular data from the Australian Tax Office) and data modelling, together with the available data to fulfil some of the client information needs not specifically met by the AIC survey program. Output from the complementary program is expected to be initially released approximately 18 months after the reference period.

The AIC notionally commenced with the 2006-07 reference period collections and will be fully implemented for the 2008-09 reference period onwards.

ABOUT OUR WORK

REVIEW OF ANNUAL SERVICE INDUSTRIES SURVEY (SIS) PROGRAM

The ABS has been conducting the SIS program since the early 1990s revising every few years to reflect updated user requirements. This program satisfied both internal and external user requirements by providing detailed studies of selected service industries/activities on size and structure of the industry/activity at a point in time. The disparate nature of these requirements and the industries/activities and available resources necessitated considerable negotiations to frame a viable program.

With the introduction of the Annual integrated Collection (AIC) most of the ABS annual business surveys, including former SIS surveys will now be conducted using a common platform. The annual review process undertaken by the ABS will continue to identify priority areas and surveys will be conducted within available resource limits.

The latest update of this program was in 2005 and determined the survey program for the three years ending in 2008-09 financial year. The next review of SIS survey program as part of the AIC program will be undertaken in the latter half of 2008 and the ABS will be seeking input from service industries statistics users to assist in the shaping of the future AIC-SIS program for 2009-10 onwards. More details will be made available later through ABS newsletters published regularly by State/Territory offices. If you would like further information please contact Melanie Taylor, Director, Goods and Services NSC by phone 02 6252 7495 or by email service.industries.program@abs.gov.au.

DEVELOPMENT OF 2008-09 SERVICE INDUSTRY SURVEYS

The ABS is planning to conduct the community services survey in respect of the 2008-09 financial year. This survey will be conducted on the basis of ANZSIC 2006 industry classification. The organisations with activities in aged care residential services, other residential care services, child care services, and other social assistances services will form the main part of the population. The rest will include agencies supporting these activities. The Goods and Services National Statistics Centre has already commenced consultation with relevant stakeholders which will continue until about mid 2008.

The aim of stakeholder consultation is to develop a common understanding between the ABS and key clients of the purpose of each survey and the survey requirements relative to the purpose - e.g. identify and prioritise the content, accuracy, scope and significant issues that could impact on the survey development, implementation or output.

For the purpose of identifying relevant stakeholders for consultations in the broad development phase, the Goods and Services NSC will soon commence contacting those organisations that made relevant submissions to the 2005 Service Industry Survey Forward Work Program review.

If you did not make a relevant submission to the review but would still like to be included in the development of any of these surveys or for further information contact Melanie Taylor, Director, Goods and Services NSC on (02) 6252 7495, email service.industries.program@abs.gov.au.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

RECENT ABS SERVICE INDUSTRIES PUBLICATIONS

Since the release of the last newsletter the results of the following ABS surveys have been released.

Digital Game Development Services, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8515.0) This publication presents a range of statistics relating to businesses involved in the provision of digital game development services for the 2006-07 financial year. This is the first time the ABS has published statistics on digital game development services.

Cafe, restaurant and catering services, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8655) This publication presents results from a survey of cafe, restaurant and catering businesses. The survey was conducted in respect of the 2006–07 financial year and provides detailed measures of the performance, structure and activity of cafe, restaurant and catering businesses operating in Australia. It includes aspects such as: the composition of income earned, details of expenses incurred and the characteristics of the workforce. A state/territory dimension is also presented.

Retail and Wholesale Industries 2005-06 (cat. no. 8622.0) This publication presents a range of statistics relating to businesses involved in the retail and wholesale industries for the 2005–06 financial year. This is the fourth time the ABS has published statistics on the retail and wholesale industries, and the first time the results for both industries were released in the same publication. The scope of the 2005–06 Retail and Wholesale Industries Survey includes all employing and non-employing businesses. Non-employing businesses were excluded from the scope of previous surveys.

Retail and Wholesale Industries, Australia: Commodities 2005-06 (cat. no. 8624.0) This publication presents a limited set of statistics relating to commodities sold by businesses involved in the retail and wholesale industries for the 2005-06 financial year. This is the third time the ABS has published commodity statistics, and the first time that results are being released for the combined retail and wholesale industries.

Australian Industry 2005-06 (cat. no. 8155.0) This publication presents estimates of the economic and financial performance of Australian industry for 2005–06, together with data on a comparable basis from 2001–02 and intervening years. These data are compiled from the ABS Economic Activity Survey and from business income tax data reported to the Australian Taxation Office.

UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS

UPCOMING ABS SERVICE INDUSTRIES PUBLICATIONS

Performing Arts, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8697.0) is expected to be released on 28 May 2008.

Accommodation Services, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8695.0) is expected to be released on 25 June 2008.

Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8679.0) is expected to be released on 15 July 2008.

Not-For-Profit Organisations, Australia 2006-07 (cat. no. 8106.0) is expected to be released on 29 July 2008. This will be the first issue by the ABS on Not-For-Profit Organisations.

ALTERNATIVE SOURCES OF INDUSTRY STATISTICS


The following ABS publications provide some of the sought after detailed data on service industries at ANZSIC Class level.

NUMBER OF BUSINESSES BY STATE BY EMPLOYMENT AND ANNUAL TURNOVER SIZE RANGES

Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2003 to Jun 2007 (cat. no. 8165.0) This publication presents counts of businesses based on snapshots of actively trading businesses as at June 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register. It contains counts and rates of business entries and exits from the Australian economy as well as counts and rates pertaining to the survival of businesses.


EMPLOYMENT IN SERVICE INDUSTRIES

Labour Force, Australia, Detailed, Quarterly (cat. no. 6291.0.55.003) This Labour Force Survey release includes data collected in February, May, August and November (including industry and occupation). The spreadsheets and data cubes contain estimates based on the same data as the monthly publication Labour Force, Australia (cat. no. 6202.0). The Labour Force Survey is a component of the Monthly Population Survey.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NatStats 08 CONFERENCE

The ABS is hosting a conference of the producers and users of official statistics from 19 to 21 November 2008 at the Crown Promenade in Melbourne to provide an opportunity for participants to discuss strategies for improving statistics for policy and decision makers.

The focus of the conference will be on measuring progress in Australian society and future information needs. An array of high profile policy and decision makers from across the community will ensure a varied and exciting program.

The NatStats 08 Conference will be linked with the global initiative being led by the OECD on Measuring Progress in Societies and with the Australian initiatives being developed through the 2020 Summit and the National Reform Agenda.

For more information please contact Mark Lound on (02) 6252 6325. Alternatively, please contact Conference Solutions on natstats@con-sol.com or phone 02 6285 3000 to register your interest. Details of the conference are available at NatStats 08 Conference website.

FURTHER INFORMATION


ABS encourages further dissemination of this newsletter through email, or by its placement on your organisation's intranet.

To subscribe to this newsletter and/or to provide general comments about this news letter please contact Service Industry National Statistics Centre by email: service.industries.program@abs.gov.au.

GOODS AND SERVICES NSC CONTACTS


Director
    Melanie Taylor
(02) 6252 7495
Manufacturing and Mining Statistics
    Jan Gill
(02) 6252 5113
    Geoff Polglase
(02) 6252 7881
Transport Statistics
    Mark Nelson
(02) 6252 7890
Tourism Statistics
    Joanne Caddy
(02) 6252 5058
Service Industries Statistics
    Maneesha Subrail
(02) 6252 7235
    Melissa Guilfoyle
(02) 6252 5504