Construction Work Done, Australia, Preliminary

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Provides preliminary estimates of value of total construction work done, building work done and engineering construction work done

Reference period
June 2021
Released
25/08/2021

Key statistics

  • The seasonally adjusted estimate for total construction work done rose 0.8% to $52,875.5m in the June quarter.
  • Building work done rose 0.1% to $30,563.5m.
  • Engineering work done rose 1.8% to $22,312m.

Value of construction work done

 Jun 21Mar 21 to Jun 21Jun 20 to Jun 21
$m%%

Trend estimates(a)

Value of work done   
 Buildingnanana
 Residentialnanana
 Non-residentialnanana
 Engineeringnanana
 Total constructionnanana

Seasonally adjusted estimates(a)

Value of work done   
 Building30,563.50.12.8
 Residential19,047.4-0.18.9
 Non-residential11,516.10.3-6.0
 Engineering22,312.01.8-2.7
 Total construction52,875.50.80.4

na not available
a. Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2018-19.

 

a. Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2018-19.

The value of total construction work done rose 0.8% in the June quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The rise was driven by engineering construction, which rose 1.8% in the June quarter, but is 2.7% lower than at the same time last year. Building work done rose 0.1%, and is 2.8% higher than at the same time last year.  

a. Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2018-19.

The value of building work done rose 0.1% in the June quarter, in seasonally adjusted terms. The increase was driven by non-residential building work done, which rose 0.3% in the June quarter, and is 6% lower than at the same time last year. New-residential building work done declined by 0.1%, and is 8.9% higher than at the same time last year.

Value of construction work done, chain volume measures - seasonally adjusted
 Jun 21Mar 21 to Jun 21Jun 20 to Jun 21
 $m%%
State/Territory
New South Wales15,998.00.30.9
Victoria14,042.02.7-5.9
Queensland9,797.92.7-1.8
South Australia3,449.64.215.3
Western Australia7,324.2-1.96.5
Tasmania912.210.622.3
Northern Territory655.336.631.0
Australian Capital Territory924.10.4-6.0

a. Reference year for Chain Volume Measures is 2018-19.

Total construction work done rose in all states and territories except for Western Australia.

Data downloads

All time series workbooks

Data files
Data files

Notes

About this issue

This publication provides an early indication of trends in building and engineering construction activity. The data are preliminary estimates based on a response rate of approximately 75% of the value of construction work done during the quarter. This is lower than the average response rate due to difficulties collecting data as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This places the data at increased risk of revision when results are updated in Engineering Construction Activity, Australia on 29 September 2021 and in Building Activity, Australia on 13 October 2021.

Data notes

Mining projects tend to be complex in structure and comprise a number of different investment activities including exploration, engineering construction, plant and equipment and buildings. A feature article released in the March 2012 issue of Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia provides a summary of the conceptual basis of the relevant ABS publications that measure investment in Australia, using a hypothetical mining project to illustrate how this investment is reflected in ABS data.

Suspension of trend series

The trend series attempts to measure underlying behaviour in construction activity. This measurement will be significantly affected by changes to regular patterns in activity during this time, as the construction industry faces on-going uncertainty. If the trend estimates in this publication were to be calculated without fully accounting for this irregular event, they would likely provide a misleading view of underlying construction activity.

It may be some time before the underlying trend in construction activity can be accurately estimated. The trend series have therefore been suspended starting from June 2020. The trend series will be reinstated when more certainty emerges in the underlying trend.

Update to seasonal adjustment methods

Building and Engineering Activity use the concurrent seasonal adjustment method, meaning that seasonal factors are re-estimated each time a new data point becomes available. If not appropriately accounted for, unusual real-world events, such as COVID-19, can distort estimates calculated using this method.

From September 2020, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including June 2020, then projected from September 2020 onwards, for:

  •  Private and total sector non-residential building work done in Victoria.

From March 2021, seasonal factors are being calculated using data up to and including December 2020, then projected from March 2021 onwards, for:

  • Private and total sector non-residential building work done in Queensland, and
  • new houses and alterations and additions to residential work done series in all states and territories.

This approach, known as the forward factor method, ensures that the seasonal factors are not distorted by COVID-19 impacts.

Inquiries

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 8755.0.

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