Survey of Foreign Currency Exposure

The Survey of Foreign Currency Exposure (SFCE) measures the:

• Level of foreign currency denominated assets and liabilities of Australian resident enterprises
• Approach and extent to which foreign exchange exposures are hedged using derivatives
• Way in which hedging decisions are made by Australian resident enterprises.

This information is collected for resident enterprises' transactions with both non-resident and resident companies.

 

This survey is used in the compilation of aggregated data on Australian resident enterprises’ foreign currency exposure and the risk management practices associated with that exposure. It provides insights into Australian entities' ability to withstand a depreciation of the Australian dollar.

International Investment Survey Form 90 (Form 90) collects information on the foreign financial assets and liabilities of Australian residents. Where Survey of Foreign Currency Exposure (SFCE) data should reconcile with data reported on Form 90, the SFCE form and explanatory notes direct you to the relevant Form 90 questions. All other questions asked on the SFCE are independent of Form 90. Please contact the ABS if you are unsure which questions should reconcile between the SFCE and Form 90.

Your business was chosen to participate in this survey due to your involvement in the Survey of International Investment, Survey of International Trade in Services, or due to your business importing or exporting goods. If you believe your business has been selected in error please contact the ABS on 1800 206 696 or +61 2 6252 8718 (outside Australia).

Yes. The questions included in this survey are being asked under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, which has provisions to make surveys compulsory. Under the Act, you are obliged to provide the information being requested. All the information you provide will remain strictly confidential.

Yes. The industry, business and government users of Survey of Foreign Currency Exposure (SFCE) statistics need the most accurate and timely information possible so they can make well-informed decisions which impact Australian businesses and communities. If you are experiencing difficulty completing the survey by the due date, extensions may be granted on a case by case basis and should be requested by contacting the SFCE team on 1800 206 696 or +61 2 6252 8718 (outside Australia).

If you have received a reminder letter about completing a survey, it is likely that you have returned the survey at the same time as we issued your reminder notice. If you wish to confirm this, please call one of our team on 1800 206 696 or +61 2 6252 8718 (outside Australia) and we will check the information against our records.

We require information to be as accurate as possible. The more accurate the figures you supply, the more accurate the statistics will be. However, if accurate data is not readily available, careful estimates will be accepted.

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 www.abs.gov.au/privacy.

Report all businesses currently held by the Australian organisation, including those that are dormant. A dormant company does not undertake financial transactions during the reporting period (i.e., activities that increase or decrease the value of its assets or liabilities). However, it may still have receipts or payments that relate to existing assets or liabilities that will fall due at a future date, meaning it still has exposures subject to foreign currency volatility.

Yes, you need to report for any businesses held during the financial quarter being reported for. If a business was sold part way through, please report any activity that was undertaken while the business was held by the Australian parent. The terms of the sale may mean that the previous owner has future payments or receipts related to the sold business and these need to be reported in the SFCE.

For help, or more information about this survey, call us on 1800 206 696 or +61 2 6252 8718 (outside Australia) from 9:00am to 7:00pm AEST. For help outside these hours, please leave a message with your contact details and we will call you back.

You can also use our online Business Surveys Contact Form to outline the details of your situation and we will be in touch.

If you have participated in this survey, we want to hear about your experience. We value your feedback and will use it to improve how we work with our survey participants.

You can use the final comment box at the end of this survey form to tell us about your experience, along with any suggested improvements to the form.

Yes. We provide statistics free of charge on our website. Statistics produced from this survey are published in Foreign Currency Exposure, Australia.