Monthly Population Survey

Use the 'Complete your survey' button below to create and/or log in to your ABS survey account and access your survey.

Every month the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) collects essential information about Australia's workforce from people all over the country in the Monthly Population Survey. After Census, it is the largest household survey conducted by the ABS and provides the official measures of employment and unemployment for the nation. 

This information impacts decisions that can directly affect you, your family, and the people you know, such as where public resources are allocated.

Results of the survey are available free of charge on the ABS website in our monthly Labour Force, Australia releases.

We value your time taking part in this survey. It is only with the support of people like you that we can continue to produce the statistics that inform Australia's important decisions.

The ABS takes the privacy and security of your information very seriously. The Monthly Population Survey Collection Notice  explains how we collect personal information for the Monthly Population Survey (MPS) in compliance with the Australian Privacy Principle 5 (Privacy Act, 1988). To view our Privacy Policy for Statistical Information visit www.abs.gov.au/privacy

Every month about 26,000 households participate in the Monthly Population Survey. To do this, we use a fair statistical method to randomly select households from all over Australia so that the information we collect is representative of all communities, background, and situations.  Everyone has an equal chance of selection for this important national survey. Once a household has been selected, another household cannot be substituted in its place as this could mean some parts of the community are under or overrepresented.

You can visit our sampling methodology webpage if you are interested in reading more about how we select households for the Monthly Population Survey.

We must include all people over the age of 15 living at the selected address in the Monthly Population Survey. Any adult member of the household can answer the questions, or all members of the house can complete their own section. You can complete the survey online, over the phone or in person with an ABS Interviewer.

It doesn’t matter if you are employed, unemployed, looking for work, or on a pension, you must participate.

Retirees

Regardless of whether you are retired or still working, we need you to complete the survey so that the survey results represent all Australians. To provide accurate statistics we need to survey a sample of households that provides a balanced representation of all households across Australia. 

We understand that in most cases there will be no change month to month in your responses. It is important that we check in with you each month to make sure that the same people are living at the address, and there have been no other changes to your circumstances.

The MPS is a compulsory survey conducted by the ABS. We are asking the questions included in this survey under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. The Act obliges you to provide the information we request, unless otherwise stated.

If you do not complete and submit your form, or answer the questions asked by the ABS Interviewer, you may be issued with a Notice of Direction, which is a legal direction to complete the Monthly Population Survey. Failure to comply with a Notice of Direction is an offence under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 and can result in prosecution and fines for each day you don't participate. It is also a finable offence to provide false or misleading statements or information. 

If we selected your household in the survey, you need to complete the survey once a month for eight to nine months. Completing the survey for this period is important so that we can measure any changes in your household's situation over time. 

If you move away from your address during this period, you will not need to continue completing the survey as the new occupants of the selected address will replace you in the survey.

There are other instances where a household may not need to complete all months of the survey. For example, there might be environmental factors preventing an interviewer making contact, or the household may have been part of a sample selected for a shorter survey period. In these instances, we will send the household a letter informing them that they do not need to complete the remaining months of the survey.

We do not remove households from the survey based on personal information they may have already provided for the survey.

You can complete the Monthly Population Survey online or with an ABS Interviewer.

To complete online click the link below:

Complete your survey

To complete online you will need to create an account and enter the Form Access Code from the letter you received in the mail. 

For help creating an account, or if you have difficulties completing your survey online, please see our Survey Account Help page.

If you are having trouble finding or using your Form Access Code, or need further assistance, please call 1800 060 911 and one of our team will be happy to assist you.

Can’t go online?

To arrange to complete the survey with an ABS Interviewer please call 1800 060 911. We understand not everyone can go online.

The ABS collects and securely stores different kinds of personal information. For more details about the personal information we collect please see our Monthly Population Survey Collection Notice.

The main questions in the survey ask about your employment:

• If you are employed, we will ask you about the hours you worked the previous week, your occupation, and the type of industry in which you work
• If you are looking for work, we will ask you about the steps you have taken to find work, and the length of time you have been looking
• If you are retired, not working, or looking for work, we will ask you about your current situation and any future plans.

We ask these questions each month to measure changes in peoples’ circumstances over time to help us produce reliable statistics.

If we have selected you in the Monthly Population Survey, we will send you a letter and brochure informing you of your selection and how to complete the survey. For any personal visits, our staff will always identify themselves. They will:

• show you their official ABS photo identification
• clearly explain the information they are seeking.

You may receive calls from numbers that you are not familiar with, including mobile phones or ‘unknown’ numbers. Our interviewers use ABS authorised mobile phones and office phones to conduct interviews. The ABS will never ask you to provide or confirm your bank details or tax file number (TFN).

If you have any concerns, you can call us on 1800 060 911 and we can confirm your selection in the survey and the identity of the staff member who is contacting you.

ABS interviewers are here to help. Please treat them with courtesy and consideration.

If you need help to complete this survey, please call us on 1800 060 911 (free call, excluding mobile phones) to make these arrangements. An ABS Interviewer who speaks the language of the householder will conduct the interview if possible. Alternatively, arrangements can be made to organise an interpreter from the Australian Government’s Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) to conduct the interview. 

If you need help or more information about the Monthly Population Survey, please call us on 1800 060 911 Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm AEST.

For help outside these hours please leave a message with your contact details and we will call you back. You can also complete a  Household Survey help request form  and we will call you as soon as possible.