What is the Australian Bureau of Statistics?
Will the information I provide be confidential?
Why can't you select another household instead of mine?
Do I have to participate?
How long will I be in the survey?
Why do I have to do it for eight months?
What do I need to access the form?
How long does the form take to complete?
How secure is the form?
How do I complete the form?
I'm getting a login error message, what can I do?
What if I cannot complete the form in one session?
Why have I skipped questions?
What happens if my internet connection drops out?
The form has timed out?
Does the form save?
How do I resume completing the form at a later time?
Can I make changes to a section once it has been marked as 'Done'?
How do I submit the form?
I cannot submit the form?
Can I complete a paper form?
What if I lose the User Identifier?
What if I lose the Password?
What is the Australian Bureau of Statistics?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is Australia's official statistical agency. We encourage informed decision making, research and discussion with governments and the community by leading a high quality and objective national statistical service. The ABS produces social, environmental and economic statistics covering a wide range of topics. For more information, visit the ABS website www.abs.gov.au.
Will the information I provide be confidential?
Yes. The ABS is required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905 to maintain the secrecy of all information provided to it. The ABS also complies with the requirements of the Privacy Act 1988 when collecting and using personal information. No information will be released in any way that would enable an individual or household to be identified. The ABS' long standing record for maintaining the secrecy of information provided is widely respected.
Why can't you select another household instead of mine?
It is important that all selected households participate to ensure that the survey results reflect the community as a whole. Households are selected at random throughout Australia so that every household in each state and territory has the same chance of being selected. Each selected household represents similar people in the community. Your participation is vital to ensure that all people like you are properly represented in the survey results.
In this survey, it is just as important to collect information about those not in the labour force, such as retirees and pensioners, as it is to collect information about those who are working or looking for work.
Do I have to participate?
At this time you are being requested to answer the questions, but if the Australian Statistician directs you in writing to provide the information, you are legally obliged to do so.
How long will I be in the survey?
You will need to participate once a month for 8 months
Why do I have to do it for eight months?
One of the main reasons for the Monthly Population Survey is to measure the changes in the labour force over time. To reduce burden on your household, and to provide reliable information on the current status of the labour force, households are replaced every eight months.
What do I need to access the form?
To access the form, you need a User Identifier and a Password.
The User Identifier and the Password can be found in the letter sent to you by the ABS.
If your web browser does not support 128-bit TLS/SSL encryption you will not be able to complete the form online. For information on how to enable 128-bit encryption click on the link to Technical Help.
For further information, please consult the 'Help' function in your web browser or click on a link to:
How long does the form take to complete?
The time taken to complete the online form will depend on how many questions are relevant, the speed of your computer and Internet connection, as well as the level of Internet traffic at the time of completion.
If you are unable to complete the form in one session you can save your information, exit and return to complete the form at a more convenient time. You can exit the form at any time by clicking the 'Save and Exit' link, which appears in the top right-hand side of the form. You will be prompted to save the form before exiting. For further information, please refer to How do I resume completing the form at a later time?
How secure is the form?
The ABS is bound by the Census and Statistics Act 1905 to protect the confidentiality of the information you provide to the ABS. To ensure that your information is delivered to the ABS securely, we have used the strongest industry standard encryption technology that your web browser will support. This means that the information you send is unable to be read by anyone except the ABS. All possible measures have been taken to protect the integrity of the form.
The security of your information is also reliant upon the continued confidentiality of your Password. You must ensure that your Password remains confidential in order to prevent others from using it to gain access to your information. Once the form has been submitted it can no longer be retrieved from the system, this is in order to further protect the confidentiality of the information you have provided.
For further information, please click on the Privacy and Security link.
How do I complete the form?
On every page within the form, there are links to online help and information which may assist you in completing the form.
At the 'Login' page, in the spaces provided, enter your User Identifier followed by your Password. Your User Identifier and Password can be found on the letter sent to you by the ABS.
Once you have entered your User Identifier and Password click the 'Login' button and follow the steps below:
Step 1: Following your initial login, you will be presented with a 'Change Password' page. This page requests that you change your initial password to a new password of your choosing, your password should be between 7 and 12 characters in length and contain a combination of letters, numbers, and special characters. Once you have entered a new password that meets the complexity requirements, click the 'Submit' button to proceed.
Step 2: After successfully changing your initial password you will be presented with a page listing the surveys that you have been allocated. Each survey title displayed on this page will be a link that, when activated, will take you to the appropriate survey form. Select a survey from the list and activate its link to begin completing the survey.
Step 3: As you complete each section of the form, the navigation link text associated with that section will be updated to reflect its completion, this will appear in the left-hand navigation menu. Any left-hand navigation link without this change indicates that the section is not yet complete.
Step 4: Once all sections of the form are complete, you will progress to the 'Submit' page. Press the 'Submit' button to submit the form. Please note that, in order to maintain the security of the information you have provided, you will be unable to re-enter a form once it has been submitted.
Step 5: Following a successful form submission, you be presented with a page acknowledging the successful submission.
I'm getting a login error message, what can I do?
These messages relate to the User Identifier and Password you are using to login to the online form. Please check that you are entering the User Identifier and Password correctly.
If you continue to receive these messages, please call the ABS Population Survey Operations area in your state/territory on the 1800 number listed in the Contact Us link and a customer service representative will assist you. Please quote any error messages or numbers to the customer service representative.
What if I cannot complete the form in one session?
The form is resumeable. If you are unable to complete the form in one session you can save your information, exit and return to complete the form at a more convenient time. You can exit the form at any time by clicking the 'Save and Exit' link, which appears in the top right-hand corner of the form.
For information on the resume function, please refer to How do I resume completing the form at a later time?
Why have I skipped questions?
The form has been designed to make completion quick and easy. The form has been designed to skip questions that are not relevant based on your response to previous questions. Therefore, each question must be completed in the order in which it appears in the form.
What happens if my internet connection drops out?
If your connection returns quickly, within a few seconds, you should be able to continue the form as before. If your connection does not return quickly, your session will remain active on the server and your data will not be available again until the session times out and the data is saved, refer to The form has timed out?
The form has timed out?
The form time-out period is 30 minutes, this means that if you do not interact with the form for 30 minutes, your session will be lost and you will need to login again to continue completing the form. Your form data is saved on session time-out and should be available again upon login.
Does the form save?
The form is designed to save your data during any of the following events, when you activate the 'Save and Exit' link, when your session times out, or when you activate the final 'Submit' link to complete the form.
How do I resume completing the form at a later time?
If you are unable to complete the form in one session you can save your information, exit and return to complete the form at a more convenient time. You can exit the form at any time by clicking the 'Save and Exit' link, which appears in the top right-hand side of the form.
To return to your saved form, please follow the login instructions in How do I complete the form?
Should you misplace your User Identifier, please refer to What if I lose the User Identifier?
If you have misplaced or forgotten your Password, please refer What if I lose the Password?
Can I make changes to a section once it has been marked as 'Done'?
Yes. Changes can be made to any section of the form, even those that have been completed previously. To make changes to a completed section, use the navigation options presented to navigate to the section you would like to edit.
Once you submit the form, for security reasons the form is locked and can no longer be retrieved by anyone except the ABS.
How do I submit the form?
To successfully submit the form, all sections must have been completed and the left-hand navigation must have updated to reflected this completed status. Use the navigation links to navigate to any incomplete sections and complete them. When all the relevant questions have been answered, upon pressing the final 'Next' button for a section the completion status for that section will be updated.
Once all sections have been completed, clicking the final 'Next' button of the final section will progress the form to the 'Submit' page. From the 'Submit' page, click the 'Submit' button to finalise and submit your form.
I cannot submit the form?
If you experience problems submitting the form, please refer to How do I submit the form? Or call the ABS Population Survey Operations area in your state/territory on the 1800 number listed in the Contact Us link and a customer service representative will assist you.
Can I complete a paper form?
If you are experiencing problems completing the online form, please call the ABS Population Survey Operations area in your state/territory on the 1800 number listed in the Contact Us link and a customer service representative will assist you.
What if I lose the User Identifier?
It is important that the User Identifier provided to you is used every time you log into the survey. Please keep this User Identifier in a safe place. If you do misplace your User Identifier, please call the ABS Population Survey Operations area in your state/territory on the 1800 number listed in the Contact Us link and a customer service representative will assist you.
What if I lose the Password
The security of your information relies upon the confidentiality of your Password. You will be asked to change your password the first time you enter the online form. Please ensure that once changed, your Password is stored in a secure manner to prevent others from using it to access your information.
If you do misplace your Password, please call the ABS Population Survey Operations area in your state/territory on the 1800 number listed in the Contact Us link and a customer service representative will assist you.