Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours

EEH is conducted every two years with businesses and organisations throughout Australia. Your participation in the survey is essential for producing Australia's labour statistics. These statistics are used to measure the Australian labour market and provide government and industry analysts with key economic indicators to inform decision making.

The questions cover earnings, hours and characteristics for a sample of employees in your business or organisation. The survey form provides instructions about how to select the sample of employees from your payroll.

Yes. The questions included in this survey are being asked under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, which has provisions to make surveys compulsory. Under the Act, you are obliged to provide the information being requested. All the information you provide will remain strictly confidential.

The current survey reference date is the last pay period ending on or before 16 May 2025.

EEH is completed by a selected group of businesses or organisations that represent the wider Australian community. Businesses or organisations of various sizes and industries are included to produce employee data representative of the full range of occupations in the Australian labour market.

The ABS considers the activities of small businesses or organisations to be as important as larger ones. Smaller businesses or organisations have specific characteristics and can be impacted differently by government policies and incentives. Small businesses or organisations cannot be excluded from participation in ABS surveys. Completing the EEH survey helps enable government and others to design policies that support the range of businesses across Australia.

The Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours is conducted once every two years. A new sample is selected each time the survey is undertaken.

Larger businesses or organisations have a higher chance of selection in multiple ABS business surveys. Some large businesses may be selected each time the survey is conducted due to their significance to the overall survey results.

Smaller businesses or organisations have a lower chance of selection, due to the larger number of small businesses in Australia. However, there will always be some cases where inclusion in more than one survey cannot be avoided, particularly if the business or organisation has a significant impact on measurement of economic activity, for example, due to its type or location.

Yes. The industry, business and government users of EEH statistics need the most accurate and timely information possible so they can make well-informed decisions which impact Australian businesses and communities.

Yes. We take the security of the information you provide to us very seriously. Your completed form and personal information remains strictly confidential to the ABS. We use the information you provide to calculate statistics which are released in ways that do not allow for the identification of individuals, businesses or organisations.

The information in this survey is collected under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Under the Act, staff of the ABS are obliged to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of information provided.

We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you believe we have breached these principles, please see the information on how to lodge a complaint about privacy matters, contained within our privacy policy.

No. There is no provision within the Census and Statistics Act 1905 to reimburse businesses or organisations for the cost of providing statistical information. In line with other national statistical organisations throughout the world, individuals, businesses and other organisations are asked to supply information for statistical purposes without compensation. It is only with the support of people like you that we can continue to produce the statistics that inform Australia's important decisions.

Some businesses operate without any employees (for example, businesses operated entirely by owners of unincorporated entities). In this case, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 and we will assist you. To help us determine the correct course of action for your business or organisation, we will ask you a few questions, such as, is there is any intention for your business or organisation to employ anyone in the future?

If the business you are reporting for has ceased operating or did not operate during the reference period, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 and we will assist you.

If you have received a reminder letter about completing EEH, it is likely you have returned the survey at the same time that we issued the reminder letter. If you wish to confirm this, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 and we will check the information against our records.

We provide our statistics free of charge on our website. Statistics produced from EEH are published in Employee Earnings and Hours, Australia.

For this survey, you should have received a letter with a Form Access Code to access your survey form online. Set up, or log in to your secure ABS Survey Account and add your Form Access Code to access the survey form. 

For more information on completing our surveys online, help is available on our Survey Account Help page. This page provides assistance with technical difficulties and includes frequently asked questions which assist in creating and using the ABS Survey Account.

If you have a question or would like to provide feedback, you can get in touch with us via the General enquiry form.

If you would like assistance regarding your survey submission, please call 1800 642 149 between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm AEST (excluding Public Holidays).