8679.0 - Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, Australia, 2006-07 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 22/07/2008   
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    QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The statistics presented in this publication were compiled from data collected from a sample of Australian businesses mainly engaged in television, film or video production and post-production services and a census of Australian businesses mainly engaged in providing television broadcasting services. The collections were conducted as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) business survey program for the 2006–07 reference year. The data were collected under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

For information about the institutional environment of the ABS, including its legislative obligations, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.


RELEVANCE

The main purpose of these collections was to measure the size, structure and activity of television, film and video production and post-production and television broadcasting services in Australia during the 2006–07 financial year. Statistics of particular interest include: the number of commercial first-release broadcast hours of television produced; production costs; sources of income; items of expenditure; employment data and state/territory data. Government policy in this area has two aims: industry development (economic), and social/cultural objectives (e.g. the development of local product). The economic data in these collections enable governments and policy analysts to track the progress of industry development initiatives and also to evaluate the performance of core-funded agencies as cultural industries are heavily subsidised by Commonwealth and State governments in various ways (e.g., tax incentives, direct grants).


TIMELINESS

Collection questionnaires were mailed to a sample of television, film and video production and post-production businesses and to all television broadcasting businesses in mid-August 2007. The ABS aims to publish estimates from its business survey program within 12 months of the end of the reference period.


ACCURACY

The ABS aims to produce high quality data from its industry collections while minimising the reporting burden on businesses. To achieve this, extensive effort is put into collection and questionnaire design, collection procedures and processing. Estimates were produced using number raised estimation methodology with a sample of 1,005 film and video production and post-production services businesses, and a census of 56 commercial free-to-air, subscription and public television broadcasters and subscription television channel content providers.

Every effort was made to minimise reporting error by careful design of questionnaires, intensive training of collection analysts and efficient data processing procedures. Additionally, to ensure the accuracy of the estimates produced, the data have been checked against previous collection results and other sources, including contact with providers.

There was an 89% live response rate from all film and video production and post-production services businesses that were surveyed and found to be operating during the reference period. Data were imputed for the remaining 11% of operating businesses. Imputed responses contributed 8% to the estimate of total income. For the Television Services Census, there was a 100% response rate from all businesses that were surveyed and found to be operating during the reference period.


COHERENCE

The ABS has been conducting collections of television, film and video production and post-production businesses periodically since 1993–94. While the ABS seeks to maximise consistency and comparability over time by minimising changes to the collections, sound collection practice requires ongoing development to maintain the integrity of the data, their relevance to the changing needs of users and the efficiency of the collection. Additionally, given the irregular frequency of these collections, they are not designed to monitor change over time.

Changes made to these collections over time include changes in scope, concepts, data item definitions and classifications. In introducing such changes the ABS has revised previous estimates where feasible to maximise consistency and coherence with current estimates. For a full list of changes made between the 2002-03 and to 2006-07 collections, refer to the Explanatory Notes of Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, Australia (cat. no. 8679.0).


INTERPRETABILITY

The estimates from the Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey are only available as original series and are not seasonally or trend adjusted. Although financial estimates in this publication relate to the full twelve months, employment estimates relate to the last pay period ending in June 2007, or the last pay period of the month specified. As such, estimates of values per person employed can be affected by any fluctuations in employment during the reference period. This is particularly relevant when assessing film and video production and post-production estimates owing to fluctuations in employment caused by the project-based nature of film and video production activities.

Further information on terminology and other technical aspects associated with statistics from the Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Collection can be found in the publication Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services, Australia (cat. no. 8679.0), which contains detailed Explanatory Notes and Glossary.


ACCESSIBILITY

Data from the Television, Film and Video Production and Post-Production Services Survey are available in a variety of formats. The formats available free of charge on the ABS website are:
  • main features which include key findings commentary
  • a .pdf version of the publication
  • a spreadsheet which contains all the tables presented in the .pdf version of the publication and a number of additional tables: Selected income types by resident and non-resident sources, Income from post-production services by genre and Wages and salaries by type of staff employed.
    Customised data may be available on request. Note that detailed data can be subject to high relative standard errors and, in some cases, may result in data being confidentialised or not available for release. Inquiries can be made by contacting the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Sophie Vassiliou on (03) 9615 7442.