Update of Business Structure survey

The Update of Business Structure survey collects details regarding the structures of organisations. This includes information about the legal entities that are part of the business, the structure of the business and key characteristics such as main business activity, income, employment and contact details (including payroll). 

You can find detailed definitions of Business Unit, Total gross income, and Employment on the Business Unit Summary and General Instructions tabs on the electronic worksheet. Contact 1800 624 562 for further information.

For the purposes of the Update of Business Structure survey form employment should be reported as headcount of all persons as at the last pay period prior to completion.

Some businesses operate without any employees (for example, businesses operated entirely by owners of unincorporated entities). In this case, provide a detailed explanation in the comments field. In order for the ABS to determine the correct course of action for this business, you may be contacted and asked some additional questions (for example, is there is any intention for the business to employ in the future?).

If your business did not operate during the reference period, complete all relevant sections of the form and provide a detailed explanation in the comments field. In order for the ABS to determine the correct course of action for this business, you may be contacted and asked some additional questions.

If your business no longer operates due to an internal restructure or sale/merger but has been issued an Update of Business Structure survey form, provide information about why the business operations have ceased in the comments field (include final date of operation, what happened to employees and to business assets).

An ABS officer may contact you for clarification on any data that you provide. This additional information helps to ensure that statistics produced by the ABS are fit for purpose and of high quality.

To efficiently collect information from businesses, the ABS maintains information about the business structures of both private and government organisations on the ABS Business Register. The structures of large, complex and economically significant organisations are updated using the Update of Business Structure survey. Your business has been selected in this survey to confirm your business structure and key characteristics such as business activity, income, employment and contact details (including payroll).

Your participation in this survey provides us with data that is essential for producing a frame for most ABS economic surveys to enable a consistent, coherent, point-in-time picture of the Australian economy. Data is extracted from the ABS Business Register on a quarterly basis, producing the "Common Frame". Subsequently, survey frames are extracted from the Common Frame and supplied to various areas of the ABS on cyclical intervals. The information produced from these surveys are used by businesses and governments who make decisions based on these statistics to address policy and planning issues.

These statistics are drawn upon by a wide variety of individuals and organisations in both the public and private sector, with major users including:

• Reserve Bank of Australia
• The ABS' National Accounts
• The Australian Government Treasury and the States and Territories treasuries
• State and Commonwealth Government departments and agencies
• Industry organisations and associations
• Market analysts and economists

Yes. Under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 you are obliged to provide the information requested by the ABS. All the information you provide will remain strictly confidential.

We will contact you if your survey participation is delayed, and we will help you if you are having difficulties.

The length of time you will be in the Update of Business Structure survey generally depends upon the size of your business. Some larger businesses will remain in the survey on an ongoing basis because of their significance to survey results.

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

The ABS is very conscious of the reporting load imposed on businesses in completing ABS statistical surveys. For some time the ABS has been actively pursuing a policy of reducing this load to the minimum necessary to fulfil its obligations as a national statistical agency. See Steps the ABS is taking to minimise reporting load on businesses.

Businesses experiencing difficulties in completing ABS survey forms by the due date can request an extension of time by calling us on 1800 624 562

The ABS takes the privacy and security of your information very seriously.

We use your survey responses to produce statistics, which we release as summary data that does not identify any business or organisation. In some cases, detailed statistics might relate to a single holding. If you are concerned your holding could be identified, you can ask us to further aggregate your data.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information outlines how we use your personal information and keep it safe. To view our policy visit the Privacy page.

No. There is no provision within the Census and Statistics Act 1905 to reimburse individuals, 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.

If you have received a reminder letter or email about completing the Update of Business Structure survey it is likely that you have returned the survey at the same time that we issued the reminder notice. To confirm this, call 1800 624 562 and we will check the information against our records.

Yes, the ABS highly recommends that you keep a copy of your completed form for your own personal records and to refer to if we require any clarification after we receive the form. An ABS officer may contact you for clarification on any data that you provide. This additional information helps to ensure that statistics produced by the ABS are fit for purpose and of a high quality.

You will have received a letter or an email with a Form Access Code. You can then set up, or log into, your ABS Survey Account. Enter your Form Access Code then select ‘Add Form’. A pop up box will appear. Ensure you select the ‘Close’ button. This will return you to the ABS Survey Account home page. If the Update of Business Structure electronic worksheet was not included in the initial email it should be accessed under the ‘My Data Submissions’ table by clicking the ‘Download’ button.

When you are ready to submit your completed electronic worksheet log back into your account. Select ‘Start’ or ‘Resume’ for the Update of Business Structure survey under ‘My Data Submissions’. This will take you to the Informatica File Transfer portal. Please see ‘We're having trouble completing the survey online - where can we find help?’ question for more detail on this process.

If you are unable to complete your survey online, or have not received the letter or email we sent you, please call us on 1800 624 562 and one of our team will be happy to assist you.

The Update of Business Structure survey form is an electronic worksheet that is submitted through the Informatica file transfer portal. The Submitting Data Files to the ABS page provides assistance with technical difficulties and includes frequently asked questions which assist in creating and using the ABS Survey Account and navigating the Informatica file transfer portal.

If you are having trouble creating or accessing your account, downloading or submitting your electronic worksheet, or have lost your Form Access Code, please call us on 1800 624 562 and one of our team will be happy to assist you.

If you would like more general information about participating in one of our surveys, please see our Survey Participant Information page.

We require information to be as accurate as possible. The more accurate the figures you supply, the more accurate the statistics will be. However, if accurate data is not readily available, careful estimates will be accepted.

Yes. We provide statistics free of charge on our website.

Results from this survey feed into the survey selection and data analysis for critical economic surveys and the production of the Australian National Accounts and other economic indicators.

Results of the Update of Business Structure survey are used to produce the Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (cat. no. 8165.0).

You can call us on 1800 624 562 between 9am to 7pm AEST, Monday to Friday. If you call us outside these hours, leave a message with your contact details and we will return your call as soon as possible.

The Update of Business Structure form is reviewed on a regular basis. Questions on ABS business survey forms are usually determined through consultative processes involving major users of ABS business statistics, such as Commonwealth and State government departments and relevant ABS business survey collection areas. Factors such as whether information can be obtained from other sources, why the data is needed, how the information will be obtained, ability of businesses to provide the information and cost are all considered. Forms testing is undertaken to ensure that new questions can be readily understood and completed appropriately.

You can use the final comment box at the end of this survey form to tell us about your experience participating in this survey, along with any suggested improvements to the form.

You can also use our online Business Surveys Contact Form to outline the details of your situation and we will be in touch.