QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

This publication presents experimental estimates on workplace location, industry and remuneration information from the WorkCoverSA dataset. This dataset is collected by WorkCoverSA for administrative purposes through their registration of workers compensation insurance.

The experimental estimates have been produced by the State and Territory Statistical Services (STSS) within the ABS. For information on the institutional environment of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), including the legislative obligations of the ABS, financing and governance arrangements, and mechanisms for scrutiny of ABS operations, please see ABS Institutional Environment.

RELEVANCE

The purpose of the experimental estimates is to produce South Australian business counts and remuneration data for different industry classifications at a sub-state level.

The scope of the estimates are based on the businesses with locations in South Australia that are registered with WorkCoverSA for the reference periods of 2009-10 to 2012-13.

These businesses exclude:

• sole traders (unless they are working as a director)
• nationally employing businesses (insured through Comcare rather than WorkCoverSA)
• businesses that employ workers and have an annual employer remuneration expense less than a specified wage threshold ($11,597 for the 2012-13 financial year)

For the purposes of this publication, workplaces insured by WorkCoverSA but located outside of South Australia were also excluded.

The experimental estimates have been produced at the Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) level for South Australia. SA3s are part of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) and reflect a combination of widely recognised informal regions as well as existing administrative regions such as State Government Regions in rural areas and local Government Areas in urban areas.

The businesses that contribute to the statistics in this publication are classified by industry in accordance with the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 edition (cat. no. 1292.0).

TIMELINESS

The WorkCoverSA dataset is collected for each financial year and delivered to the ABS on an annual basis.

The estimates produced herein are for four periods from the 2009-10 financial year to the 2012-13 financial year.

ACCURACY

WorkCoverSA records were provided to the ABS with the South Australian WorkCover Industrial Classification (SAWIC). To align with existing ABS publications, SAWIC was concorded to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industry Classification (ANZSIC). Although there is a high degree of confidence in this concordance, it may be a potential source of error. Furthermore, due to delays in the processing and recording of workplace cancellations, workplace counts may be revised by WorkCoverSA in the future.

COHERENCE

The estimates provided in this publication are experimental in nature and due to significant differences in scope, coverage and definitions will not align with existing ABS data such as the business counts presented in Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (cat. no. 8165.0).

INTERPRETABILITY

There are limitations on how this data may be used and interpreted as the WorkCoverSA data is collected primarily for administrative purposes. The usability of the data may be enhanced through further analysis in conjunction with other datasets.

ACCESSIBILITY

This is the first time that WorkCoverSA data has been released by the ABS.