Introduction
The BCS is an annual survey and is the vehicle for estimates in business use of information technology; innovation; and a broad range of other non-financial business characteristics. A more detailed set of items for either business use of information technology or innovation are collected every second year (i.e. in alternating years). The 2018-19 BCS collected detailed information relating to innovation.
Statistical units used
The Economics Unit Model is used by the ABS to determine the structure of Australian businesses and other organisations. The model consists of:
The Enterprise Group (EG)
Legal Entities (LEs)
Type of Activity Units (TAUs)
Location Units
Businesses contributing to the estimates in this publication are sourced from the ABS Business Register (ABSBR), and are selected at either the Australian Business Number (ABN) unit or the Type of Activity Unit (TAU) level, as described below.
In the BCS, the statistical unit used to represent the majority of businesses, and for which statistics are reported, is the ABN unit. The ABN unit is the business unit which has registered for an ABN, and thus appears on the Australian Tax Office (ATO) administered Australian Business Register (ABR). These units are suitable for ABS statistical needs when the business is simple in structure, and are generally referred to as the non-profiled population. In these instances, one ABN equates to one statistical unit.
For more significant and diverse businesses where the ABN unit is not suitable for ABS statistical needs, the ABS maintains its own unit's structure through direct contact with the business, and the statistical unit used is the TAU. A TAU comprises one or more business entities, sub-entities or branches of a business entity within an Enterprise Group that can report production and employment activities. When a minimum set of data items is available, a TAU is created which covers all the operations within an industry subdivision (and the TAU is classified to the relevant subdivision of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC)). These units are generally referred to as the profiled population.
Classification of units
ANZSIC is used to classify the industry in which the TAU or ABN has productive activity. Further information on this classification can be found in Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 (Revision 2.0) (cat. no. 1292.0).
The Standard Institutional Sector Classification of Australia (SISCA) provides a framework for dividing the Australian economy into institutional sectors. Further information on this classification can be found in Standard Economic Sector Classifications of Australia (SESCA), 2008 (Version 1.1) (cat. no. 1218.0).
Scope and coverage
The scope of the estimates in this publication consists of all employing business entities in the Australian economy, except for:
SISCA 3000 General government
SISCA 6000 Rest of the world
ANZSIC06 Division O Public administration and safety
ANZSIC06 Division P Education and training
ANZSIC06 Groups 624 (Financial asset investing) and 633 (Superannuation funds)
ANZSIC06 Groups 954 (Religious services) and 955 (Civic, professional and other interest group services)
ANZSIC06 Subdivision 96 Private households employing staff
The frame for the BCS is a subset of the ABSBR and includes employing businesses only. These are defined as those businesses which register for the ATO's Pay As You Go Withholding (PAYGW) scheme. It is not unusual for some of these 'employing businesses' to have zero employment at various times during the reporting period. The BCS frame is updated to take account of new businesses, businesses which have ceased employing, changes in employment levels, changes in industry and other general business changes. Businesses which have ceased employing are identified when the ATO cancels their ABN and/or PAYGW registration. In addition, businesses with less than 50 employees which did not remit under the PAYGW scheme in each of the previous five quarters, are removed from the frame. The estimates in this publication include an allowance for the time it takes a newly registered business to be included in the survey frame.
Survey methodology
Collection of data included in this release was undertaken based on a random sample of approximately 7,000 businesses via online forms or mail-out questionnaires. The sample was stratified by industry and an employment-based size indicator. All businesses on the ABSBR identified as having 1,000 or more employees were included in the sample.
Reference period
The reference period for most of the characteristics items included in the 2018-19 BCS is during the year ended 30 June 2019 or as at 30 June 2019. Financial data relates to the most recent financial year ended on or before 30 September 2019.
Defining "innovation"
The BCS draws on the conceptual definitions and guidelines included in the 'Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data' (Fourth Edition, 2018). This manual provides a framework for the collection of innovation statistics and specifies the definitions of innovating businesses and innovation-active businesses that are used by the ABS. The BCS draws on this manual for the questions used in the BCS and in the presentation of outputs from the survey.
Key indicators of innovation include: measures of business innovation (innovating, innovation-active); types of innovation (goods or services, process); and status of innovation (introduced, still in development, abandoned). Definitions for each of these measures of business innovation are provided in the Glossary.
Changes to the measure of innovation in 2018-19
BCS innovation data released previously, in cat. no. 8166.0, 8158.0 and 8167.0, used 2005 'Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data, Third edition ' concepts.
The BCS applied the fourth edition of the OSLO definitions for the 2018-19 collection, resulting in:
- reduction in types of innovation from four to two
- previously there were four types of innovation introduced by businesses: goods and/or services, operational processes, organisational/managerial processes and marketing methods.
- starting with this cycle there are two types of innovation introduced by business: goods and/or services; and process.
- Goods and/or services innovation definition change
- starting with this cycle, changes to aesthetic design or packaging is included with goods and/or services innovation. This was previously reported under marketing methods innovation.
- starting with this cycle, changes to aesthetic design or packaging is included with goods and/or services innovation. This was previously reported under marketing methods innovation.
- new innovation type - Process innovation
- this includes all innovation collected previously under: operational processes; organisational/managerial processes; and marketing methods. The exception is aesthetic design or packaging which is now part of goods and/or services innovation.
- this includes all innovation collected previously under: operational processes; organisational/managerial processes; and marketing methods. The exception is aesthetic design or packaging which is now part of goods and/or services innovation.
- flow on impacts of these changes to abandoned and ongoing innovation to reflect the two types of innovation from this cycle.
Refer to the Appendix to view all changes to the BCS. A copy of the 2018-19 BCS questionnaire can also be found via the Data downloads section.
For comparative purposes, 2017-18 BCS data for both the 2018 and 2005 versions of the OSLO manual can be found in datacube 11 (via the Data downloads section).
Innovation expenditure
Innovation-active businesses were asked to estimate their expenditure (using ranges) on the development or introduction of all new goods, services and processes during the reference period.
Using this data and running multiple simulations, the estimated total expenditure spent on innovation by Australian businesses in 2018-19 is between $33 billion and $37 billion. Approximately one third of total innovation expenditure is derived from businesses that reported actual dollar values $5 million or greater.
Further expenditure information can be found in datacube 8 (via the Data downloads section).
Business counts in this release and comparability with others published by the ABS
Estimates of the number of businesses operating in Australia can be derived from a number of sources within the ABS. They may relate to a particular point in time or may be presented as an average annual figure. However, these estimates will not always show the same results. Variations will occur because of differing data sources, differing scope and coverage definitions between surveys, as well as variations due to sampling and non-sampling error. More information about business counts can be found in the Information Paper: A Statistical View of Counts of Businesses in Australia (cat. no. 8162.0).
The BCS is not designed to provide high quality estimates of numbers of businesses for any of the output classifications (for example, employment size or industry) and the number of businesses in this publication are only included to provide contextual information for the user. The estimate of the total number of businesses may not be equal to the sum of each employment size range due to rounding of business counts to the nearest thousand. A more robust source of counts of Australian businesses is available from Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, Jun 2015 to Jun 2019 (cat. no. 8165.0).
Output classifications
For output purposes, businesses are classified to employment size ranges based on actual data reported in the survey. For the first time outputs will be available for some data items in the 0-19 employment size range (small businesses). For industry output, the classification is drawn from information held about the business on the ABSBR.
Availability of state/territory output
The sample is designed to produce efficient estimates for industry and employment size at the national level; therefore it does not provide quality estimates for states/territories. As estimates may not reflect change over time for a selected state/territory or adequately enable comparison between states/territories, they are not available.
Rounding and other adjustments
Estimates of proportions have been calculated using unrounded figures, but are shown in the tables rounded to one tenth of a percentage point. Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of the component items and the total. Figures presented in the commentary have been rounded to the whole percentage.
Acknowledgement
ABS publications draw extensively on information provided freely by individuals, businesses, governments and other organisations. Their continued cooperation is very much appreciated: without it, the wide range of statistics published by the ABS would not be available. Information received by the ABS is treated in strict confidence as required by the Census and Statistics Act 1905.