Consumer Price Index Survey

CPI is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by households for a fixed basket of goods and services.

In Australia, the CPI measures the changes in the price of a fixed basket of goods and services, acquired by household consumers who are resident in the eight State/Territory capital cities.

The CPI Survey collects prices of goods and services purchased by households. Businesses/organisations selected in the CPI are asked to report the consumer prices for a selection of the goods or services that they offer.

In most cases, an ABS Survey Officer will call a business/organisation once a month to collect prices. These phone calls generally take 5-10 minutes.

Online submission of administrative data is available for businesses/organisations with complex reporting requirements. 

Transactions data, manually searching retailer’s websites and web scraping are also used to capture prices. Use of transaction data in the Australian CPI and Web scraping in the Australian CPI provide more information about these types of data collection.

The prices you provide contribute to the CPI which is primarily used to monitor and evaluate levels of inflation in the Australian economy. It is also used for adjusting fixed payments, such as pensions and contracts.

Yes. 

Under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, you are obliged to provide the information requested by the ABS.

We follow up delayed responses and we will assist you if you are having difficulties.

Yes. 

Your submitted data and personal information will remain strictly confidential to the ABS.

The information is used to calculate statistics, and these are only released in the form of aggregated data that do not allow identification of individuals, businesses, or organisations.

We take the security of the information you provide to us very seriously. Your information remains strictly confidential to the ABS. The information is used to calculate statistics, and these are released in ways that do not allow identification of businesses or organisations.

All ABS employees have signed a legally enforceable Undertaking of Fidelity and Security in which they agree to keep any information, including personal information which they may deal with in the course of their work, private and confidential. This agreement applies to ABS employees for the rest of their lives, even if they leave the ABS. 

We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you believe we have breached these principles, please see the information on how to lodge a complaint about privacy matters, contained within our privacy policy.

Yes.
The industry, business and government users of CPI statistics need the most accurate and timely information possible so they can make important decisions.

We require information to be as accurate as possible. The information supplied by your business is used to produce the CPI. The more accurate the figures you supply, the more accurate the statistics will be.

Yes!
More information is available online at www.abs.gov.au/business-survey/consumer-price-index-survey
You can call us on 1300 135 070 (+61 2 92 684 909 outside Australia), Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

The ABS provides CPI results free-of-charge via the website at Consumer Price Index, Australia.

Information about interpreting and using CPI information can be found at Consumer Price Index FAQ's.