Survey of Job Vacancies

JVS is conducted every quarter with businesses and organisations throughout Australia. Your participation in this survey provides figures essential for calculating Australia’s job vacancy statistics. These statistics are used in the measurement of Australia’s job vacancies and provide government and industry analysts with key economic indicators to inform decision making.

The questions in JVS ask about the number of job vacancies for your business or organisation on the reference date.

Yes. 
Under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, you are obliged to provide the information requested by the ABS.  
We follow up delayed responses and we will assist you if you are having difficulties.

A job vacancy is a job available for immediate filling on the reference date and for which recruitment action has been taken.

Note: Recruitment action includes efforts to fill vacancies by advertising, by on site or online notices, by notifying employment agencies or trade unions and by contacting, interviewing or selecting applicants already registered with your organisation.

Including

• Vacancies for all categories of jobs (e.g. executive, managerial, full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary, casual, seasonal, traineeships, apprenticeships, cadetships)

Excluding

• Vacancies for positions not paid through your payroll
• Vacancies for jobs which became vacant on the survey date and were filled that same day
• Vacancies for jobs of less than one day’s duration
• Vacancies only available to be filled by internal applicants (for public sector organisations, also exclude vacancies only available to employees within the relevant Public Service)
• Vacancies to be filled by employees returning from paid or unpaid leave or after industrial disputes
• Vacancies not available for immediate filling on the survey date (e.g. recruitment for vacancies expected in the future such as graduate intakes and recruitment pools)
• Vacancies for work to be carried out by contractors
• Vacancies for which no recruitment action has been taken
• Vacancies where a person has been appointed, but has not yet commenced duty (e.g. where provisional promotion or acceptance of appointment has occurred)
• Vacancies where the position is not available to be filled until a later date
• Vacancies to be filled by staff from contract labour agencies.

The current survey reference date is 21 August 2026.

JVS is answered by a selected group of businesses or organisations that represent the wider Australian community. Businesses or organisations of various sizes and industries are included as each are differently affected by government policies. Figures from all sizes of businesses or organisations are particularly important for calculating state and territory statistics.

The ABS considers the activities of small businesses or organisations to be as important as larger ones. Smaller businesses or organisations have specific characteristics and can be differently impacted by government policies and incentives. Small businesses or organisations cannot be excluded from participation in ABS surveys. Answering the JVS questions helps enable government and others to best design policies that support the range of businesses across the states and territories of Australia.

The length of time that a business or organisation is selected in any particular survey will depend on factors such as the size of the business or organisation, the number of businesses or organisations with similar characteristics, and how significant the activities of the business or organisations are to the overall results.

Larger businesses or organisations have a high chance of selection in multiple ABS business surveys. Due to their significant contribution to the overall survey results, they will usually remain in a survey on an ongoing basis.

Smaller businesses or organisations have a lower chance of selection and will usually be included in JVS for three years at a time. However, there are exceptions to this rule and some small businesses or organisations could be required to remain in longer than three years, particularly if the business or organisation has a significant impact on measurement of economic activity, for example, due to its type or location.

Due to the large number of smaller businesses or organisations in Australia, they are generally not included in more than one survey at a time. However, there will always be some cases where inclusion in more than one survey cannot be avoided.

Where possible, we use data from existing administrative data sources to replace, or reduce direct data collection from smaller businesses.

Yes.
The industry, business and government users of JVS statistics need the most accurate and timely information possible so they can make important decisions. 
When completing your form, if exact figures are not available, please provide careful estimates.

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 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.

In this case, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8846 outside Australia) and we will assist you. To help us determine the correct course of action for your business or organisation, we will ask you a few questions, such as, is there any intention for your business or organisation to employ anyone in the future?

In this case, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8846 outside Australia) and we will assist you.

If you have received a reminder letter about completing JVS, it is likely that you have returned the survey at the same time that we issued the reminder letter. If you wish to confirm this, please call one of our team on 1800 642 149 (+61 2 6252 8846 outside Australia) and we will check the information against our records.

Each quarter, you will receive correspondence with a code to access the latest quarter’s survey form. Then, set up, or log in to your secure ABS Survey Account and add your Form Access Code to access the survey form. 
You will only need to add a Form Access Code the first time you access your survey form. For all future cycles the JVS form will automatically be added to your account.
The account is a secure service that allows a form to be accessed as many times as is needed before final submission. The same account can be used to access and answer future surveys.

This is a very short survey that takes less than 10 minutes to complete online.

For this survey, you should have received a letter with a Form Access Code to access your survey form online. Set up, or log in to your secure ABS Survey Account and add your Form Access Code to access the survey form. 
For more information on completing our surveys online, help is available on our Survey Account Help page. This page provides assistance with technical difficulties and includes frequently asked questions which assist in creating and using the ABS Survey Account.

If you have a question or would like to provide feedback, you can get in touch with us via the General enquiry form.
If you would like assistance regarding your survey submission, please call 1800 642 149 between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm AEST (excluding Public Holidays).
 

We provide statistics free of charge on our website. Statistics produced from JVS are published in Job Vacancies, Australia.