This publication provides insights into the conditions and sentiments of Australian businesses.
This survey provides timely insights into the pandemic for governments, businesses, researchers and the broader community. The data from this release compliments the ongoing range of other information the ABS produces to provide critical insights into the impacts of COVID-19 on the Australian economy and society.
For more information refer to https://www.abs.gov.au/covid-19.
The collection was conducted through a telephone based business survey between 17 and 24 February 2022.
The Business Conditions and Sentiments Survey includes information on the following industries classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC):
The scope excludes public sector business units (i.e. all departments, authorities and other organisations owned and controlled by Commonwealth, State and Local Government).
The survey includes Employing and Non-Employing Units on the ABS Business Register. However, micro non-employing businesses are excluded. These are very small units on the ABS Business Register, by standard measures of size.
The statistical unit used to represent businesses, and for which statistics are reported, is the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit, in most cases. The ABN unit is the business unit which has registered for an ABN, and thus appears on the ATO administered Australian Business Register. This unit is suitable for ABS statistical needs when the business is simple in structure.
For more significant and diverse businesses where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical needs, the statistical unit used is the Type of Activity Unit (TAU). A TAU is comprised of one or more business entities, sub-entities or branches of a business entity within an Enterprise Group that can report production and employment data for similar economic activities. When a minimum set of data items is available, a TAU is created which covers all the operations within an industry subdivision (and the TAU is classified to the relevant subdivision of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)). Where a business cannot supply adequate data for each industry, a TAU is formed which contains activity in more than one industry subdivision and the TAU is classified to the predominant ANZSIC subdivision. Further details about the ABS economic statistical units used in this survey, and in other ABS economic surveys (both sample surveys and censuses), can be found in Chapter 2 of the Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (SESCA) 2008.
The survey is based on a random sample of approximately 2,000 units stratified by industry and employment size. The final response rate was 60%.
The survey sample is re-weighted to adjust for non-response and provide full population estimates.
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) has been developed for use in both countries for the production and analysis of industry statistics. For more information, users are referred to Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006.
When interpreting these results, please note that there may be systematic bias in these estimates that statistical procedures would not correct. In particular, estimates may be subject to non-response bias.
| 1 | (a) Is this business currently trading? | |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q2] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to Q1b] | ||
| (b) Is the halt in business trading a result of COVID-19? | ||
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q2] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to comments] | ||
| 2 | Does this business employ any staff? | |
| [NOTE: This includes all employees on the books and not currently working] | ||
| ☐ Yes | ||
| ☐ No | ||
| [NOTE: Businesses are not required to check records for the following questions] | ||
| 3 | (a) Over the past month, has revenue increased, decreased or stayed the same? | |
| [NOTE: Revenue refers to income generated from the sale of goods or services] | ||
| ☐ Increased | ||
| ☐ Decreased | ||
| ☐ Stayed the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| (b) And over the next month, do you expect revenue will increase, decrease or stay the same? | ||
| [NOTE: Revenue refers to income generated from the sale of goods or services] | ||
| ☐ Increase | ||
| ☐ Decrease | ||
| ☐ Stay the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| (c) Over the past month, have operating expenses increased, decreased or stayed the same? | ||
| [NOTE: Operating expenses refers to expenses incurred in undertaking normal business operating activities. Examples include payroll, rent, inventory cost, marketing and insurance] | ||
| ☐ Increased | ||
| ☐ Decreased | ||
| ☐ Stayed the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| (d) And over the next month, do you expect operating expenses will increase, decrease or stay the same? | ||
| [NOTE: Operating expenses refers to expenses incurred in undertaking normal business operating activities. Examples include payroll, rent, inventory cost, marketing and insurance] | ||
| ☐ Increase | ||
| ☐ Decrease | ||
| ☐ Stay the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| (e) Over the past month, have the number of employees increased, decreased or stayed the same? | ||
| ☐ Increased | ||
| ☐ Decreased | ||
| ☐ Stayed the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| (f) And over the next month, do you expect the number of employees will increase, decrease or stay the same? | ||
| ☐ Increase | ||
| ☐ Decrease | ||
| ☐ Stay the same | ||
| ☐ Don't know | ||
| 4 | (a) Over the past 3 months, has the business sought additional funds for any purpose? | |
| [NOTE: Includes funds sought from banks or other financial institutions, owners’ personal line of credit or savings (e.g. redraw facility on an existing loan), owners’ family or friends, and other businesses] | ||
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q4b] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to Q4c] | ||
| ☐ Don't know [Go to Q5 (ONLY if business also selected ‘Yes’ at Q2)] | ||
| (b) You indicated the business has sought additional funds over the past 3 months. Was the business successful in obtaining additional funds? | ||
| [NOTE: It is possible for businesses to have multiple applications for additional funds that are at different stages of completion. Multiple responses can be selected where this is the case] | ||
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q5 (ONLY if business also selected ‘Yes’ at Q2)] | ||
| ☐ Application still in progress [Go to Q5 (ONLY if business also selected ‘Yes’ at Q2)] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to Q5 (ONLY if business also selected ‘Yes’ at Q2)] | ||
| ☐ Don’t know [Go to Q5 (ONLY if business also selected ‘Yes’ at Q2)] | ||
| (c) You indicated the business has not sought additional funds for any purpose. Is this because the business…? | ||
| [NOTE: This question is about the reasons for not seeking additional funds. I am going to read out some options, please answer with ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t know’ for each] | ||
| ☐ Had sufficient funds | ||
| ☐ Had no requirements for capital expenditure or other investments | ||
| ☐ Is unwilling to increase debt | ||
| ☐ Could not meet debt repayments | ||
| ☐ Is unable to meet eligibility requirements | ||
| ☐ Are there any other reasons the business has not sought additional funds for any purpose? (please specify) | ||
| NOTE: Questions 5 and 6 are to be answered by employing businesses only (i.e. those that selected 'Yes' to Question 2). Those responding ‘No’ to Question 2 go to Question 7 | ||
| 5 | (a) Based on current operations, does the business have a sufficient number of employees? | |
| ☐ Yes | ||
| ☐ No | ||
| ☐ Don’t know | ||
| 6 | (a) Are any of your existing employees currently unavailable due to factors related to COVID-19? | |
| [NOTE: Factors might include staff that have/think they have COVID-19, staff that are a close contact and isolating, or staff that don’t want to come into work for fear of contracting COVID-19] | ||
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q6b] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to Q7a] | ||
| ☐ Don’t know [Go to Q7a] | ||
| b) You indicated that availability of employees is affected by factors related to COVID-19. Are any of the following reasons affecting employee availability? (select all that apply) | ||
| ☐ Staff have COVID 19 symptoms or illness | ||
| ☐ Self isolation or quarantine requirements | ||
| ☐ Pending COVID-19 test results | ||
| ☐ Caring responsibilities (For example: caring for others who are unwell or caring for children due to school or daycare closures) | ||
| ☐ Staff have indicated an unwillingness to work due to concerns over catching COVID | ||
| ☐ Any other reasons (please specify) | ||
| (c) You indicated that availability of workers is affected by COVID-19. What proportion of your workforce are currently impacted by COVID-19 and unable to work? | ||
| ☐ Less than 25 per cent | ||
| ☐ 25 to less than 50 per cent | ||
| ☐ 50 to less than 75 per cent | ||
| ☐ 75 to 100 per cent | ||
| ☐ Don’t know | ||
| (d) Thinking of your workforce currently unable to work due to being impacted by COVID-19, are you able to cover the hours using existing employees? | ||
| ☐ No | ||
| ☐ Yes, existing staff can cover a small amount (some) of the hours | ||
| ☐ Yes, existing staff can cover most of the hours | ||
| ☐ Yes, existing staff can cover all the hours | ||
| ☐ Don’t know | ||
| 7 | (a) Is the business currently experiencing any supply chain disruptions? A supply chain is a logistics network between a business and its suppliers to produce and distribute a product to the customer. A supply chain disruption is an interruption to that network. | |
| ☐ Yes [Go to Q7b] | ||
| ☐ No [Go to Comments] | ||
| ☐ Don't know [Go to comments] | ||
| (b) You indicated the business is currently experiencing supply chain disruptions. To what extent are the supply chain disruptions affecting this business? (select one option only) | ||
| ☐ Not at all | ||
| ☐ A small extent (e.g. some delays but little impact on revenue) | ||
| ☐ A great extent (e.g. major delays/cannot obtain certain items and significant impact on revenue) | ||
| ☐ Don’t know | ||
| (c) Have any of the following factors impacted this business’ supply chain? | ||
| ☐ Existing suppliers unable to provide products (supply constraints) | ||
| ☐ Unable to source or substitute alternate suppliers for products | ||
| ☐ Increased prices (including cost of transport) | ||
| ☐ Increased time to receive products from suppliers (i.e.. domestic and international delivery delays) | ||
| ☐ Any other factors? | ||