QUALITY DECLARATION - SUMMARY

INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT

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 most recent Energy Use and Conservation (EUC) Survey was conducted in March 2014 and provides household information on:

• dwelling characteristics
• sources of energy used in households
• heating and cooling in households
• insulation in dwellings
• electrical appliances in households.

The survey was conducted throughout Australia as a supplement to the ABS monthly Labour Force Survey (LFS).

The survey covers households in urban, rural, remote and very remote areas across all states and territories of Australia, excluding households in Indigenous Communities.


TIMELINESS

The EUC Survey is collected triennially each March as a supplement to the ABS monthly LFS. Surveys on this topic have been conducted since 1994. In 2014, data from the survey is released approximately nine months after the completion of enumeration (i.e. during December). The ABS does not intend to conduct another EUC Survey.


ACCURACY

The 2014 EUC survey was designed to provide reliable estimates at the national level and for each state and territory.

The sample size for the March 2014 LFS was approximately 26,000 private dwellings. Only half of these dwellings were included in the sample and there were 10,809 fully responding households. Taking into account sample loss, the response rate was 86%.

Estimates in this publication are subject to sampling and non-sampling errors. Sampling error is the error associated with taking a sample of dwellings rather than going to all dwellings in Australia. In this publication the sampling error is measured by the relative standard error (RSE), the standard error expressed as a percentage of the estimate. Non-sampling errors can occur in any data collection, whether based on a sample or a full count such as a census. Sources of non-sampling error include non-response, errors in reporting by respondents or recording answers by interviewers, and errors in coding or processing of data. Every effort is made to reduce the non–sampling error by careful design and testing of questions, training interviewers, follow-up of respondents and extensive editing and quality control procedures at all stages of data processing.

To minimise the risk of identifying individuals in aggregate statistics, a technique is used to randomly adjust cell values. This technique is called perturbation. Perturbation involves small random adjustment of the statistics and is considered the most satisfactory technique for avoiding the release of identifiable statistics while maximising the range of information that can be released. These adjustments have a negligible impact on the underlying pattern of the statistics.

After perturbation, a given published cell value will be consistent across all tables. However, adding up cell values to derive a total will not necessarily give the same result as published totals.

Where a footnote is not included on an estimated total, it should be assumed that any discrepancy between the total and the sum of its components is due to the effects of rounding or perturbation.


COHERENCE

The previous EUC survey was conducted in March 2011. Data from the 2014, 2011 and 2008 EUC surveys are released under the title Environmental Issues: Energy Use and Conservation (cat. no. 4602.0.55.001). Prior to 2008, the annual publication Environmental Issues: People's Views and Practices (cat. no. 4602.0) focussed on one of three rotating topics each year: Energy Use and Conservation; Waste Management and Transport Use; and Water Use and Conservation.

The ABS seeks to maximise consistency and comparability over time by minimising changes to the survey. Sound survey practice, however, requires ongoing development to maintain and improve the relevance and integrity of the data. Due to changes in the questionnaire, certain data items are not comparable between the EUC 2011 and EUC 2014 surveys. For changes between the surveys, please refer to the Explanatory Notes.


INTERPRETABILITY

This publication contains tables and a summary of findings to assist with the interpretation of the results of the survey. A data item list, detailed explanatory notes, a technical note on data quality and a glossary are also included, providing information on the terminology, classifications and other technical aspects associated with these statistics. The Downloads tab includes a version of the questionnaire used to collect the data in this survey.


ACCESSIBILITY

Tables and associated RSEs are available in an Excel spreadsheet which can be accessed from the Downloads tab.

Additional tables may also be available on request. The Downloads tab includes a document containing a complete list of the data items available. Note that detailed data can be subject to high RSEs and, in some cases, may result in data being confidentialised.

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, or email client.services@abs.gov.au. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.