QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY


INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

RELEVANCE

Preliminary estimates from the 2015-16 Agricultural Census will be presented in two separate publications:

Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2015-16 (cat. no. 7111.0), contains statistics on principal crop area and production and livestock numbers. The publication presents data on a national, state and territory basis. Final estimates that also include sub-state level data will be released in mid 2017 in Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2015-16 (cat. no. 7121.0).

Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary, 2015-16 (cat. no. 7501.0) presents preliminary value of production statistics. It contains statistics on principal value of crops, livestock slaughterings and disposals and livestock products. The publication presents data on a national, state and territory basis. Final estimates that also include sub-state level data will be released in mid 2017 in Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, 2015-16 (cat.no. 7503.0).

TIMELINESS

Principal Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2015-16, Preliminary (cat. no. 7111.0) and Value of Principal Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia, Preliminary, 2015-16 (cat. no. 7501.0) will be published within twelve months of the end of the reference period. Final estimates from the 2015-16 Agricultural Census will be released in Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 2015-16 (cat. no. 7121.0), Water Use on Australian Farms, 2015-16 (cat. no. 4618.0) and Land Management and Farming in Australia, 2015-16 (cat. no. 4627.0) in mid 2017.


ACCURACY

Data from the 2015-16 Agricultural Census are based on the achieved target response rate of 85% and have been extensively quality assured. The resultant estimates have been checked against earlier years' estimates and relevant other sources, to ensure the accuracy of estimates produced.

All estimates in this publication are subject to sampling error. For more information about these errors, refer to the Explanatory Notes within this release.


COHERENCE

The 2015-16 Agricultural Census was conducted using a frame based on the Australian Business Register (ABR). This is the same as the frame used for the 2005-06 Agricultural Census, for subsequent annual agricultural surveys, and for the 2010-11 Agricultural Census.

For the purposes of this collection a business (statistical unit) is identified as undertaking agricultural activity if any of the primary or secondary productive activities of that business fall with the Agriculture Subdivision (Subdivision 01) as defined by the 2006 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). For more information, please refer to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (cat. no. 1292.0).

Beginning in the 2015-16 reference period the ABS has increased the minimum value of the Estimated Value of Agricultural Operations (EVAO) used to scope agricultural businesses from $5,000 and above to $40,000 and above. The change in scope threshold value will align the ABS definition of an agricultural business with that used by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES), and will better align the ABS’ agricultural survey program with other ABS business surveys. It will also decrease the number of businesses in scope of the collections thereby reducing respondent burden and improving collection efficiency. The increase in scope threshold is expected to continue for future ABS rural environmental and agricultural commodity collections in 2016-17 and beyond. For more information about EVAO, refer to the Explanatory Notes within this release.

The increase in value of EVAO used to scope agricultural businesses for the 2015-16 Agricultural Census will result in estimates not being directly comparable to previous Agricultural Censuses or annual rural environment and agricultural commodity surveys. To help address the break in time series, estimates for previous collections from 2010-11 to 2014-15 are being re-released on the new scope basis to assist with comparisons over time. These will provide a time series based on the new scope over a five year period and will be released progressively from December 2016.



INTERPRETABILITY

The Agricultural Census and the Rural Environment and Agricultural Commodities Survey provide a broad range of data about Australian agricultural commodities through a suite of standard products or as data customised for individual requirements. Time series data are available for some estimates that were collected through previous surveys/censuses. Detailed explanatory notes are provided with each publication to assist users in determining and specifying their data requirements and to understand the concepts underlying the data.


ACCESSIBILITY

An extensive range of data are available from a variety of rural environment and agriculture based collections on the ABS website.

If the information you require is not available as a standard product or service, ABS Consultancy Services can assist with customised services to suit your requirements. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.