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New releases and upcoming information:
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 | Introduction of Carbon Pricing
On 1 July 2012, the Australian Government introduced a $23 per tonne carbon price on greenhouse emissions, to be paid directly by Australia's largest greenhouse gas emitting companies, together with compensation and incentive packages. Carbon pricing changes the relative prices of high and low emission-intensive goods. The extent that any carbon costs translate into general increases in prices depends on a range of factors. Carbon pricing will be occurring at the same time as normal variations in prices are occurring driven by productivity, the terms of trade or changing preferences. The extent to which businesses pass on the carbon price will depend on their consideration of issues such as operating costs, margins, and other economic factors (such as degree of competition).
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released an Information Paper: Recording emissions reduction schemes in ABS statistics (cat. no. 5257.0.55.001) on 30 July 2012. This information paper summarises the nature of emissions permits measures introduced under the Clean Energy Act 2011, and how the ABS expects to include estimates of various carbon credit schemes in economic and environment statistics, commencing with the September quarter 2012.
The ABS will not be able to quantify the impact of carbon pricing, compensation or other government incentives and will not be producing estimates of price change exclusive of the carbon price or measuring the impact of the carbon price. Any changes in the prices charged by companies for their outputs, paid by companies for their inputs or paid by consumers, will be reflected in the suite of price indexes compiled and published by the ABS. Further information on the expected impacts of the introduction of carbon pricing is available in the publication Strong Growth, Low Pollution - Modelling a Carbon Price (The Treasury, 2011) |
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 | House Price Index – Feature Article on Experimental Other Dwellings Price Index
The established house price index currently covers detached houses in the eight capital cities. Since 2010, work has been underway to develop a price index for other dwellings in the capital cities. The June quarter 2012 issue of the House Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6416.0), to be published on 1 August 2012, will include a feature article which provides some information about the development of this new experimental price index. A data cube will be provided with a time series of the other dwellings price index and a total measure of detached houses and other dwellings: the All dwellings price index. |
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 | Consumer Price Index
From the September quarter 2012, all index numbers published in Consumer Price Index, Australia (cat. no. 6401.0) will be calculated on a new reference base of 2011–12. This will result in the index numbers for each index series being reset to 100.0 for the financial year 2011–12. Period–to–period percentage changes may differ slightly to those previously published due to rounding and the re–referencing. These differences do not constitute a revision. Further information on re–referencing can be found in chapter 12 of Information Paper: Consumer Price Index Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2011 (cat. no. 6461.0).
Information Paper: Consumer Price Index Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2011 (cat. no. 6461.0) is a comprehensive description of the Australian Consumer Price Index (CPI) based on the 16th Series -- what the index measures, the goods and services included in it, where the information on prices comes from, how the index is calculated, and how the statistics can be used. It also provides some insight into the kinds of problems the ABS encounters in compiling the CPI and explains how these are dealt with. |
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 | Producer Price Index
From the September quarter 2012, all index numbers published in Producer Price Indexes, Australia (cat. no. 6427.0) and International Trade Price Indexes, Australia (cat. no. 6457.0) will be calculated on a new reference base of 2011–12. This will result in the index numbers for each index series being reset to 100.0 for the financial year 2011–12. Period–to–period percentage changes may differ slightly to those previously published due to rounding and the re–referencing. These differences do not constitute a revision. Further information on re–referencing can be found in chapter 12 of Information Paper: Producer and International Trade Price Indexes, Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2006 (cat. no. 6429.0).
The Information Paper: Outcome of the Review of the Producer and International Trade Price Indexes, 2012 (cat. no. 6427.0.55.004) was released on 6 March, 2012. This information paper details the outcome of the review process of the Producer Price Indexes (PPIs) and International Trade Price Indexes (ITPIs) and addresses issues, such as the principal purpose; the organising structure; coverage; and release timing of the PPIs and ITPIs. The outcome of the review will be introduced from the September quarter 2012. The Stage of Production (SOP) indexes will be constructed in accordance with the Australian and Zealand Standard Industrial Classification, 2006 edition from the September quarter 2012. As a result, some previously published SOP series will be discontinued from the September quarter 2012. Appendix 4 of the Information Paper (cat. no. 6427.0.55.004) highlights these changes.
The ABS will release an Information Paper summarising the major changes to the PPIs and IPTIs one month prior to the September quarter 2012 issues of the Producer Price Indexes, Australia (cat. no. 6427.0) and the International Trade Price Indexes, Australia (cat. No. 6457.0). This information paper will also provide the updated weighting patterns of the PPIs including the Stage of Production indexes, and finalising new series.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has prepared the Information Paper: Review of the Australian Producer and International Trade Price Indexes, 2011 (cat. no. 6427.0.55.003) as a basis for user consultation regarding the review of the suite of Australian Producer Price Indexes and International Trade Price Indexes. |
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 | Wage Price Index
The Wage Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2012 (cat. no. 6351.0.55.001) is a comprehensive description of the Australian Wage Price Index (WPI). The publication describes purposes and uses of the WPI; historical background of the series; coverage, classifications and sampling of the index; the WPI calculation in practice; and, re-referencing and linking price indexes. The Wage Price Index: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2012 (cat. no. 6351.0.55.001) is available in either an online version or downloadable PDF file. |
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This page last updated 3 April 2013 |
