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QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

The statistics presented in this release are compiled from information from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industries Survey. This survey provides details about the production and distribution of ICT goods and services within Australia and is part of the overall ABS program of economy wide statistics. The ICT Industries Survey is conducted under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

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 ICT Industries Survey provides data relating to the supply of ICT goods and services. Information from this survey is used to monitor and develop policies relating to the ICT sector. ICT industries data are also used internally within the Australian Bureau of Statistics by the National Accounts Branch in the compilation of Supply-Use and Input-Output Tables and the ICT Satellite Account; as well as by the International Accounts and Financial Statistics Branch in compiling the Balance of Payments series.



TIMELINESS
The reference period for the majority of financial data is the 12 months ended 30 June 2007. However, some businesses were unable to supply information on this basis and instead used an accounting period for which financial data could be provided. Employment data relates to the number of persons employed by the business during the last pay period in June 2007.

The 2006-07 ICT Industries survey was mailed to businesses in mid-August 2007. Results were published in October 2008.


ACCURACY
Like other surveys, the ICT Industries Survey is subject to two types of error: sampling and non-sampling error. Extensive effort was put into minimising these types of error by focusing on survey and questionnaire design, collection procedures and quality assurance processes. Estimates of sampling error are available in the release (see Technical Note, Data Quality). No estimate of non-sampling error is available.

The ICT Industries survey is designed to collect information businesses from industries considered to be the main industries involved in the production and distribution of ICT goods and services. However, this selection of industries does not include all Australian businesses involved in the production and distribution of ICT goods and services. As a consequence, estimates from this survey underestimate the scale of ICT activity within Australia.

For the purposes of inclusion within the survey scope, the industry classification used to determine a business' industry is taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Business Register (ABSBR). A unit's particular industry classification may be changed for output purposes based on information ascertained during the quality assurance process. Based on the revised industry classification, some units may be excluded from contributing to the survey estimates, whilst others may contribute to an industry which differs from what they were originally selected. Whilst such procedures result in more accurate industry data, they also serve to increase sampling variability. In 2006-07, 8% of the initial sample were excluded as a result of their revised industry classification. A further 13% still contributed to survey estimates, but had their industry classification modified.

For 2006-07 the response rate for the ICT Industries survey was 94%.


COHERENCE
Changes have been initiated to the ICT Industries Survey in the period between the 2004-05 and 2006-07 survey cycles. These include:

(1) Changes to the industry classification used to define Australian ICT Industries: Estimates presented in the 2006-07 release are based on the 2006 edition of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). Previous estimates were based on the 1993 edition of ANZSIC. A set of "bridged estimates" based on the ANZSIC (1993) industry classification are available for the 2006-07 reference period for contextual purposes (refer to the Appendix, Changes in Scope for more detail).
(2) Extension of scope to include Non-employing businesses: The 2006-07 ICT Industries Survey also represents the first time the scope was extended to include Non-employing businesses (refer to the Appendix, Changes in Scope for more detail).

These and other changes mean that caution should be exercised when comparing the results of the 2006-07 ICT Industries Survey with data from previous ICT Industries Survey releases.

Annual industry data for the ANZSIC (2006) classes in scope of the ICT industries survey are also included in other ABS publications. These include Australian industry (cat. no. 8155.0) and Manufacturing industry, Australia (cat. no. 8221.0). There are important differences between the statistics presented in these catalogues compared to this release and users should exercise caution when making comparisons between these estimates (refer to Explanatory Notes for more detail)


INTERPRETABILITY
The scope of the ICT Industries survey draws on, but is not identical to, the currently accepted OECD ICT industries definition. The survey scope is based on a set of goods and services descriptions that are of relevance in the Australian context. Industries in the Australian definition have been selected based on the basis that they are the main industries associated with the production and distribution of ICT goods and services. Some goods and services covered by the OECD definition are dispersed across a number of Australian industries and as a consequence have not been selected. Thus, the OECD definition includes a wider range of goods and services produced and distributed and as a consequence includes a wider range of industries.

Statistics shown in this release are classified by: