The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provides statistics on a wide range of economic, social and environmental matters, serving government, businesses and the general population. The bureau collects data through industry surveys and then verifies the information it receives. The corroborated information then forms the basis for its energy reports.

The next ABS report on household energy statistics will be released in November this year, and a report on business energy statistics is to be released in May 2010.

Mr Brown says that it takes approximately 12 months to develop a survey for distribution to up to 15,000 businesses. He says that consultation with government agencies, industry associations such as the Australian Pipeline Industry Association and the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association as well as other key players in the energy sector, is vital for feedback on the type of information that the industry is after.

Mr Brown says “We’re not talking small-scale market research-type surveys here. We run an annual energy statistics user group, and industry associations also attend that meeting. That’s basically to define the future energy information requirements, not only at the ABS but more broadly, and to keep the energy statistics community informed about what’s happening within the ABS and other agencies.”

Consultation with industry associations has led to the inclusion of questions specifically on the use of pipelines, which provide information on the amount and type of energy produced, supplied and transported to industrial, commercial and residential users throughout Australia.

To date, there is a seven year gap between the surveys conducted, with the last energy supply survey conducted in 2007–08 and the previous one in 2001–02. The ABS also runs an attitude and behaviours survey, focusing on energy conservation and use, every three years as supplementary to its monthly household population survey.

Mr Brown says that the frequency in which information is collected from businesses is primarily due to funding and the amount of resources the ABS is able to devote to the task of collating and verifying data.

“There’s a lot of demand for statistics from the ABS and we have to compete with these other demands to try and secure a spot for an energy survey, to enable this data to be collected,” he says.

Verifying data

The ABS must verify the data it receives from companies, and this is handled by a dedicated team of four to five people within the Centre of Environment and Energy Statistics. Other parts of the bureau are responsible for the collation, editing and dissemination of the collected data.

Mr Brown notes the importance of businesses supplying honest answers to the accuracy of their reports.

“It’s normally pretty good information because we do have the legislation that compels companies to respond. Having said that we rarely use this legislation. We rely on the willing co-operation of businesses, and try to convince people that it’s a worthwhile activity to be involved in. So we’re reasonably confident that people respond accurately.”

If discrepancies are discovered in the figures provided, an investigation ensues and companies are contacted directly for verification.

“Of course, when the data comes in, mistakes are made, whether they’re intentional or not. Then we use company reports and other relevant information to check it against.

“If there’s a general trend that looks suspicious you might contact the relevant organisation and you might say ‘Well look, we’re looking at an increase here of something between 100 and 300 per cent. Does that look right to you, or sound right to you?’

“And the company might say, ‘Look, that’s just out of the ball park. You’ve got to have another look at the data. Somebody’s reporting some dodgy data in there’. So, those sorts of investigations are undertaken,” Mr Brown says.

Statistics collaboration

Mr Brown says that the ABS works closely with the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resources Economics (ABARE) in verifying statistics, as well as various government departments that have a stake in interpreting the outcomes of the data collected. Strict confidentiality of survey responses is always adhered to.

“We’re currently working very closely with the Federal Department of Climate Change to get access to the National Greenhouse and Energy reporting system data to use in statistics. We work closely with the Federal Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism (RET) because they’re obviously one of our key data users. With the energy survey, which is about to go out into the field next month, RET provided a significant amount of money to enable that survey to proceed. We also deal with quite a few of the states and territories as well – their energy departments – just to make sure that our statistics, when they’re produced, stay relevant.”

ABARE releases energy and minerals surveys annually, with ABS and ABARE data complementing each other.

“ABARE don’t have the legislative powers to compel a company to respond, whereas the ABS does have those powers. When the 2001–02 energy survey was released, there were significant differences between our survey and the one coming out of ABARE. Because the ABS was able to acquire data from a broader range of companies, ABARE benchmarked its survey to ours.”

Mr Brown goes on to say that ABARE’s reports are very important because they provide the industry with statistics annually.

The importance of energy

Mr Brown says that energy security will be a big issue facing Australia in the coming years, and he is aware of the need to collect more data on energy usage and supply habits with greater frequency than ever before.

“We’ll try and run another energy use or energy supply survey as soon as possible, hopefully in the next few years, so that we don’t have to wait too long in my opinion – six or seven years – for that sort of information to be available.

“We’re rather keen to expand the output. And so we’re having discussions with various parties about how we might go about doing that to try and put in a more enduring energy statistics program.

“Energy efficiency and energy security are key issues, and so we’re negotiating...to try and secure more resources in order to expand our output,” Mr Brown says.