Making it easier for you

The ABS is working on a number of initiatives and ways to make it easier for people and businesses to provide information.

We are:

• replacing surveys with data from other sources
• reducing the number of households or businesses needed to complete surveys through better methods and substituting other data 
• providing more reporting methods to suit respondent needs
• improving how we design surveys so they are easier to complete
• using digital first approaches, in line with the Governments commitment to providing digital services for all Australians
• improving the survey experience and providing options that support changing response preferences
• looking to return useful data to businesses who report
• improving survey help and feedback channels.

Easier data provision paves the way to reliable information, which makes for better decisions and outcomes for all Australians.

This is part of a bigger vision across government to become a modern, data-driven society by 2030.

The ABS is modernising our data sourcing capabilities and accelerating use of digital technologies through the Data Acquisition Modernisation program. This work focuses on a digital first approach to encourage and support online participation and improve usability, accessibility, flexibility and security.

This program was funded in the 2024-25 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook over four years for the ABS to continue to improve how we collect data and interact with Australians.

The next stage of the program will:

• improve the digital experience for key surveys and allow for modern, accessible and secure data collection processes
• transform and modernise our contact centre to improve the experience for our customers and staff
• continue to modernise and replace legacy IT systems by transitioning key products and processes to a secure and scalable cloud environment.

Projects we are leading include: 

• The modernisation of Australian agricultural data will make it easier on farmers and farming businesses by reducing the number of agricultural surveys we run and using existing data from government, industry and commercial sources. For example, the ABS are now sourcing data from the SunRice Group as an alternative to detailed surveys from farmers. This means that while removing the response burden on farmers and farming businesses we can still produce high quality agricultural statistics and improve the accuracy and regional detail to better inform things like biosecurity risk management and responses to natural disasters.
• The development of a new business reporting application that can be linked with software businesses already use. This means businesses can report their financial data more quickly and easily.