Engineering Construction Activity, Australia

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Contains value of engineering construction work done, commenced and yet to be done, classified by various metrics

Reference period
September 2019
Released
15/01/2020

Key statistics

During the September quarter:

  • Trend engineering construction work done fell 0.6%.
  • Seasonally adjusted engineering construction work done rose 0.5%.
  • Value of work commenced decreased 16.1% in original terms.

Main features

September key figures

 Sep Qtr 19Jun Qtr 19 to Sep Qtr 19Sep Qtr 18 to Sep Qtr 19
 Value of work done$m% change% change
Trend estimates(a)
 For the private sector12 602.0-2.2-10.8
 For the public sector(b)8 607.81.9-9.5
 Total engineering construction21 212.7-0.6-10.3
Seasonally adjusted estimates(a)
 For the private sector12 633.5-2.3-8.2
 For the public sector(b)8 801.04.9-8.3
 Total engineering construction21 434.60.5-8.3

a. Reference year for chain volume measures is 2017-18.
b. Includes work done by the private sector for the public sector and work done by the public sector.
 

September key points

Value of work done, chain volume measures

Total

  • The trend estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done fell 0.6% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done rose 0.5% in the September quarter to $21,434.6m.
     

Private sector

  • The trend estimate for the value of work done for the private sector fell 2.2% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the private sector fell 2.3% in the September quarter to $12,633.5m.
     

Public sector

  • The trend estimate for the value of work done for the public sector rose 1.9% in the September quarter.
  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of work done for the public sector rose 4.9% in the September quarter to $8,801.0m.
     

Value of work commenced, current prices

  • The value of work commenced in the September quarter was $19,907.3m in original terms, a decrease of 16.1% from the June quarter.
     

About this issue

This publication updates the preliminary estimates released in Construction Work Done, Australia (cat. no. 8755.0) on 27 November 2019.

Changes this issue

A new base year, 2017-2018, 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 2017-2018, thereby preserving additivity in the quarters after the reference year. Re-referencing affects the levels of, but not the movements in, chain volume estimates.

Data note

This release includes revisions to Engineering Construction data back to June 2019.

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.

Trend estimates should be used with caution due to the volatility caused by large engineering projects. For more details on trend estimates, please see paragraphs 22 to 24 of the Explanatory notes on the Methodology page.

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.

Inquiries

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.

Article archive

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

Data downloads - time series spreadsheets

Table 01. Value of work done, by sector, chain volume measures, Australia

Table 02. Value of work done, states and territories, chain volume measures

Table 03. Value of work done, by sector, Australia

Table 04. Value of work done, states and territories

Table 05. Activity, states and territories, original

Table 06. Activity, Australia, original

Table 07. Value of work commenced by the private sector, for sector, Australia, original

Table 08. Value of work done by the private sector, for sector, Australia, original

Table 09. Value of work yet to be done by the private sector, for sector, Australia, original

Table 10. Activity by the public sector, Australia, original

Table 11. Activity for the public sector, Australia, original

Table 12. Value of work commenced, by sector, New South Wales, original

Table 13. Value of work done, by sector, New South Wales, original

Table 14. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, New South Wales, original

Table 15. Value of work commenced, by sector, Victoria, original

Table 16. Value of work done, by sector, Victoria, original

Table 17. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Victoria, original

Table 18. Value of work commenced, by sector, Queensland, original

Table 19. Value of work done, by sector, Queensland, original

Table 20. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Queensland, original

Table 21. Value of work commenced, by sector, South Australia, original

Table 22. Value of work done, by sector, South Australia, original

Table 23. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, South Australia, original

Table 24. Value of work commenced, by sector, Western Australia, original

Table 25. Value of work done, by sector, Western Australia, original

Table 26. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Western Australia, original

Table 27. Value of work commenced, by sector, Tasmania, original

Table 28. Value of work done, by sector, Tasmania, original

Table 29. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Tasmania, original

Table 30. Value of work commenced, by sector, Northern Territory, original

Table 31. Value of work done, by sector, Northern Territory, original

Table 32. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Northern Territory, original

Table 33. Value of work commenced, by sector, Australian Capital Territory, original

Table 34. Value of work done, by sector, Australian Capital Territory, original

Table 35. Value of work yet to be done, by sector, Australian Capital Territory, original

Table 36. Value of work done by the private sector, for sector, states and territories, original

Table 37. Value of work done by the public sector, by level of government, states and territories, original

Table 38. Value of work done for the public sector, by sector, states and territories, original

All time series workbooks

Data downloads - data cubes

Relative standard errors, by sector, stage and type of construction; Australia

Relative standard errors, by sector, stage and type of construction; state and Australia

Engineering construction activity: data items available by sector

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