Engineering Construction Activity, Australia

• The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done fell 1.7% in the September quarter to $22,583.9m.

• The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the private sector fell 4.2% in the September quarter to $13,445.2m.

• The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the public sector rose 2.1% in the September quarter to $9,138.7m.

• The value of work commenced in the September quarter was $18,968.9m in original terms, an increase of 13.9% from the June quarter.

This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia (cat. no. 8755.0) on 25 November 2020.

A new base year, 2018–2019, has been introduced into the chain volume estimates which has resulted in revisions to growth rates in subsequent periods. In addition, the chain volume estimates have been re-referenced to 2018–2019, thereby preserving additivity in the quarters after the reference year. Re-referencing affects the levels of, but not the movements in, chain volume estimates.

This release includes revisions to Engineering Construction data back to June 2020.

Several time series spreadsheets for recent quarters contain 'np' (not available for publication) annotations. This is due to confidential data being contained in these series.  

Mining projects tend to be complex in structure and comprise a number of different investment activities including exploration, engineering construction, plant and equipment and buildings. A feature article released in the March 2012 issue of Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia (cat. no. 5625.0) provides a summary of the conceptual basis of the relevant ABS publications that measure investment in Australia, using a hypothetical mining project to illustrate how this investment is reflected in ABS data.

The ABS is currently monitoring for potential impacts from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) on construction activity statistics and will continue to do so for the period of the pandemic.

Quality assurance of September quarter data did not identify any significant impact to headline statistics. The designation of construction as an essential service enabled activity to progress despite social distancing restrictions implemented from late March.

The ABS is actively managing the potential risks from COVID-19 to data collection operations. The ABS appreciates the support of survey respondents in continuing to provide the data to compile this publication.

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in construction activity. This measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in activity during this time, as the construction industry faces on-going uncertainty. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this irregular event, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying construction activity.

It may be some time before the underlying trend in construction activity can be accurately estimated. The trend series have therefore been suspended starting from June 2020. The trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend. 

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information you provide to us.

This release previously used catalogue number 8762.0

Revisions to Engineering Construction Statistics , March quarter 2017 (cat. no. 8762.0)

A closer look at mining in Engineering Construction , March quarter 2012 (cat. no. 8762.0)

Additional Building and Construction feature articles can be found in Feature Articles by Catalogue Number