Monthly Population Survey Collection Notice

A Collection Notice explains how your personal information is being collected and used. 

This 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).

The Monthly Population Survey is an important national survey that collects information about Australia's workforce. It has been run every month by the Australian Bureau of Statistics since 1960.

The nation's employment and unemployment figures are produced from this survey. Information collected from the survey tells us how many people in Australia have work and how many don't have work. It also tells us how many people are looking for work (or more work than they currently have). Results of this survey are used by government, businesses, and community groups to make important decisions that can affect you, your family, and people you know.

Your personal information is being collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The ABS has a Privacy Policy for Statistical Information which provides more details about how personal information is managed for this survey. 

When participating in the survey your personal information is collected online or through an ABS interviewer. For any personal visits our staff will always identify themselves, show you their official ABS photo identification and clearly explain the information they are seeking and how this will be used.

For the Monthly Population Survey, the ABS collects and securely stores different kinds of personal information, including your: 

• name
• age
• gender
• postal address
• email address
• contact phone number
• sensitive personal information such as country of birth and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status.

The main part of the survey asks about your employment:

• If you are working, you will be asked about the hours you worked, your job, and the type of industry and occupation you work in.
• If you are looking for work, you will be asked questions about the steps you have taken to look for work, and the length of time you have been looking for work.
• If you are retired, not working, or looking for work, you will be asked questions to clarify your current situation and future plans.

These questions are asked each month, for eight to nine months, to measure changes in peoples’ circumstances over time. While it may feel a little repetitive, it is very important that we measure any changes from month to month. This lets us produce reliable statistics and measure changes in the community accurately.

In some months you may be asked extra questions on various topics including work arrangements, education, or childcare arrangements.

While most households selected for the MPS are required to complete the survey for eight to nine months, in some months we randomly select a small portion of the sample to complete a shorter survey period. This smaller sample is used to help us improve our normal business practices, such as how we manage and operate our surveys. If your household is selected as part of this sample, you may receive a letter informing you that you do not need to complete the remaining months of the survey.

The ABS collects personal information under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 for the Monthly Population Survey to produce statistics, including the nation’s employment and unemployment figures. 

We also collect personal information to help us run the MPS, and to inform improvements to normal business practices, such as how we manage and operate our surveys. 

Data integration

The ABS wants to make the best use of data and statistics. One way to do this is by combining data from different sources together, which is known as data integration. Data integration supports researchers and the government to better understand Australian families, communities, industry and the economy. This can help improve government services like health, infrastructure, housing and other community services.

By reusing data, we can ask for less information from surveys, saving you time, and using public money better.

We take the privacy and security of your personal information seriously:

• The MPS has a specific Privacy Impact Assessment for data integration purposes.
• Data integration protects your privacy by removing personal information before analysis.
• You can learn more about data integration of the Monthly Population Survey by visiting our Data Integration page or the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project.

The ABS takes the security of the information you give us very seriously.

All ABS employees must sign an Undertaking of Fidelity and Secrecy upon their commencement of duties with the ABS. This is a requirement under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 (C&S Act) to ensure that each ABS officer upholds their obligations to keep information safe, secure, and confidential. This agreement applies to ABS employees for the rest of their lives, even if they leave the ABS. The penalty for breaching this is two years imprisonment, a $37,560 fine, or both.

The ABS complies with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you believe the ABS has acted against these principles, you can find information on how to lodge a complaint on our Privacy Policy for Statistical Information page.

The ABS will keep names and addresses for up to 24 months.

The ABS will only share information that does not identify you with approved researchers, and will only share this in a safe way.

The ABS will not:

• share information in a way that would identify anyone (our legislation does not allow this)
• share information with private organisations, such as direct marketing companies
• share data with other government agencies for compliance or regulation activities
• disclose your personal information to any organisation located overseas.

Unless required or authorised by or under an Australian law.

DATA Scheme

The ABS may share information it collects as part of the DATA Scheme, established by the Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022. The ABS will only share personal information through the DATA Scheme with the written approval of the Australian Statistician.

Information shared through the DATA Scheme may only be accessed by accredited entities, and personal information must be protected at all times, in line with the Privacy Act 1988. Information can only be shared for permitted purposes and cannot be shared for national security or enforcement-related purposes. 

Consistent with the Census and Statistics Act 1905, the ABS, and any other accredited entity we work with as part of a project under the DATA Scheme, will never publicly release information in a manner likely to enable the identification of any individual. 

Requesting ABS data under the Data Availability and Transparency Act (DATA) Scheme provides more information about ABS participation in the DATA Scheme.

Our Privacy Policy outlines the penalties for ABS employees who fail to protect your data.

The MPS is a compulsory ABS survey. The questions included in this survey are being asked under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Under the Act, you are obliged to provide the information being requested, unless otherwise stated.

If you do not complete and submit your form, or answer the questions asked by the interviewer, you may be issued with a Notice of Direction. A Notice of Direction 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. It is also an offence to provide false or misleading statements or information. 

Each month when you complete your MPS survey you have the option to update the personal information collected about you in relation to the MPS.

You can also contact the ABS Privacy Officer using the details provided below if you need to access or correct personal information. If the personal information you provided in the MPS changes, you can contact the ABS using one of the channels listed on our Contact us page.

Where you can show we have not adequately protected your privacy, the Contact us page and ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information have information on how you can make a complaint. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response.