1504.0 - Methodological News, Dec 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 18/12/2007   
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AIC Sample Design Launched and Estimation Strategy Developed

The Annual Integrated Collection (AIC) project was established in 2003 to construct an integrated strategy and business process environment for combining the then existing annual Economic Activity Survey, Manufacturing Survey, Mining and Utilities Survey managed through the New South Wales regional office (referred to as the AIC core), together with the Services Industry Surveys managed in Victoria and the Information and Communication Technology Industry Survey (ICTIS) managed in Western Australia (referred to as the AIC rolling program). This push towards greater integration of strategies and processes was driven by a very strong desire for greater consistency and the simplicity to be achieved by replacing a wide range of independent surveys with a single integrated system.

The main objective of the core collection is to provide key measures on the financial performance of Australian industries on an annual basis, while the rolling program provides more detailed industry activity and commodity data for specific sets of industries and with frequencies ranging from annual to nine-yearly. One of the key outcomes of the AIC project is the development of a sample design and selection strategies for the core component of the AIC that integrates well with the sample requirement of the rolling program. Key benefits desired from this integrated strategy include improved data quality and coherence, increased client satisfaction, operational efficiencies, and reduced risk of anomalous output.

The scope for the core component of the AIC consists of all Australian based activities of business entities with a non-cancelled ABN and an active ITW or GST role; and operating for at least one day during the relevant financial year, except for those businesses classified to any of:

  • Finance (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 62);
  • Insurance (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 63);
  • Public Administration (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 75);
  • Defence (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 76);
  • Private Households Employing Staff (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 96); or
  • General government (SISCA 3000), except those business classified to Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Services (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 28).

The 06/07 rolling program of the AIC consists of all Australian based activities of business entities with a non-cancelled ABN and an active ITW or GST role; and operating for at least one day during the relevant financial year in one or more of the following criteria:
  • Accommodation (ANZSIC 06 Subdivision 44);
  • Cafes and Restaurants (ANZSIC 06 classes 4511, 4513);
  • Film and Video Production (ANZSIC 06 classes 5511,5514);
  • Television Services (specific businesses in ANZSIC 06 classes 5621, 5622));
  • Music and Theatre Production (ANZSIC 06 class 9001); or
  • Performing Arts Venues (ANZSIC 06 class 9003); or
  • Non-Profit Institution (NPI) Satellite Accounts (SISCA 1000, 2000, 4000 and 5000) NPI's within scope of the AIC core; or
  • Information and Communication Technology Industry (ANZSIC 06 Classes 1620, 2421-9, 3492-4, 5420, 5801-9, 5910, 5921-2, 7000 and 9422)

The new AIC sampling strategy has been based around adoption of an integrated set survey stratifications, use of the generalized regression estimator and the exclusion of all small non-employing businesses from direct collection. These last units are the smallest non-employers whose aggregate annual BAS turnover accounts for no more than 2.5% of total industry turnover at ANZSIC class level - approximately 720 000 non-employers in a population of approximately 2 million employers and non-employers. AIC core estimates for this segment of the business population will be compiled directly from BAS data.

In July, the first set of AIC core and rolling program samples were selected, realising the goals of improved sample integration. Sample designs for the NPI, Accommodation, Cafes and Restaurants, and ICTIS surveys were highly integrated with the AIC core (in fact the NPI strata formed an exact subset of those for the AIC core).

Further work has been done by the AIC NSW and VIC teams to ensure that common core component set of edits and auto adjustments are applied to data, and by the SSB team developing imputation and outlier treatment strategies to ensure consistency in the approach. Systems development is currently underway by Technology Applications teams in NSW and Victoria.

Work for 07/08 and 08/09 will progress further integration of strategies, business processes and systems components, including sample design, imputation and estimation.

For more information on the integration of components the AIC sample design and estimation strategy, please contact Greg Griffiths on (02) 6252 6970.