Statistical Clearing House

• Overview
• Quality Framework
• A. General Information
• B. User Requirements, Survey Objectives and Budget
• C. Alternative Sources of Data
• D. Data Outputs
• E. Questionnaire Design and Data Collection
• F. Respondent Load *** You are here ***
• F1 Respondent load
  
• F2 Reduction in respondent load
  
• F3 Confidentiality
• G. Population / Frame
• H. Sample Design
• I. Estimation and Analysis

F. Respondent Load

F1 Respondent load

On average, how long will a respondent be expected to spend in completing each questionnaire? How has this estimate been derived? (F1)
The median time taken to fill out the 1997-98 ACS form is 35 minutes. This figure has been derived from a check of approximately 40000 responses loaded to ACCESS as of 13/11/98).

Median time taken to complete the supplementary questionnaires (as derived from 1997/98 census data):
Beekeeping 15 minutes
Hops and Tobacco 5 mins
Potatoes 10 mins
Cotton 10 mins
Summer-growing Crops 10 mins

F2 Reduction in respondent load

What steps have been taken to reduce the burden on small businesses, eg use of a reduced questionnaire? (F2)

The change from an annual census to an alternating cycle of censuses and surveys has reduced the total respondent burden substantially, including that of small businesses.

The $5000 EVAO cut-off is designed to avoid selection of the smallest businesses.

Overall sample size is being reduced for the 1998-99 collection where the design parameters can be met using a smaller sample.

F3 Confidentiality

What commitments have been made to preserve the confidentiality of respondents? How will these be implemented? (F3)
The confidentiality of information collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics is protected by the secrecy provisions of the Census and Statistics Act 1905. Rules on minimum number of contributors per output cell, and concentration of particular respondent contribution to the cell, apply.

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