Monthly Population Survey Collection Notice June - December 2024 - Archived

The Monthly Population Survey is an important national survey that collects vital information about Australia's workforce and has been run 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, how many don't have work, and how many are looking for work (or more work than they currently have). Results of this survey are used by government, local councils, industry business, and community groups to make important decisions that can directly 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 protected 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 MPS, the ABS collects and securely stores different kinds of personal information, including your: 

• name 
• age
• sex 
• 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 employed, you will be asked about the hours you worked, your occupation, and the type of industry in which you work.
• If you are looking for work you will be asked questions on topics such as 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 intentions.

These questions are asked each month to measure changes in peoples’ circumstances over time, so while it may feel a little repetitive, it is very important that we capture whether there have been any changes from month to month so we can make sure we are producing reliable statistics and measure changes in the community accurately.

In some months you'll be asked some additional questions on various topics including employment arrangements, education, or childcare arrangements.

We collect personal information to create statistics from the MPS. 

We also collect personal information to help us run the MPS. This personal information is used to make communicating with you easier.

The ABS is committed to maximising the value of data and statistics. One way to do this is to combine data from two or more sources together. This is known as data integration. The ABS does this to create new statistics and insights that help address important questions about Australia’s communities, economy and environment, and to save you time when responding to surveys.

Data integration protects your privacy by removing personal information before analysis. During data integration your personal information will be used in a manner that is not likely to enable you to be identified.

More information about data integration and combining your information with other data is available in the Frequently Asked Questions section below.

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.

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

All ABS employees have signed a legally enforceable Undertaking of Fidelity and Secrecy in which they agree to keep any information, including personal information which they may deal with in the course of their work, private 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 breached these principles, our Privacy Policy for Statistical Information provides information on how to lodge a complaint.

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.

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, 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 of up to $330 for each day you don't participate. It is also an offence to provide false or misleading statements or information. The penalty is a fine of up to $3,300.

Contact the ABS Privacy Officer using the details provided below if you need to access or correct personal information collected about you in relation to the MPS. If the personal information you provided in the MPS changes, you can contact the ABS on 1800 060 911.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information has information about how you can make a complaint if you feel we have not adequately protected your privacy. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response.

You can contact the ABS Privacy Officer (details below) who will respond to your enquiries or assist with complaints.

By email: privacy@abs.gov.au

By post: ABS Privacy Officer
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10, Belconnen ACT 2617