ABS Surveys Not for Profits
2 June 2008 at 12:10 pm
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is conducting its first survey of Not for Profit organisations in a bid to measure performance, structure and activities.
The survey will look at the activities of organisations based on the 2006-07 financial year.
The ABS says this is the first time a survey of the sector has been undertaken. The ABS previously published the Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account around the 1999-2000 financial year which was complied using a variety of existing data sources.
The Satellite Account enables the Not for Profit sector’s contribution to the economy to be determined.
The 2006-07 survey questionnaire was mailed to a sample of Not for Profits across Australia in mid-late August 2007.
The ABS will be collecting financial data on various income and expense items which should be readily available from standard end-of-year accounts. In addition, organisations will be asked about the number of persons employed at the end of June 2007 as well as the number of volunteers who worked for the organisation during the 2006-07 financial year.
The ABS says the questionnaire has been extensively tested with organisations in the sector to make it as easy as possible to complete while still collecting the information required.
It says co-operation is sought from organisations to produce accurate and timely results in order to maximise the use of these new statistics. The ABS will accept careful estimates if exact figures are not available.
The information requested by the ABS will remain confidential. Data from this survey will be released only in an aggregated form so that details of individual organisations cannot be identified.
The results from the survey will provide detailed measures of the performance, structure and activity of organisations operating in Australia, including the composition of income received, details of expenses paid and the characteristics of the workforce.
Initial data from the survey are expected to be available on-line in July 2008, from the ABS website www.abs.gov.au. The data will also be used as the basis of the next Non-Profit Institutions Satellite Account, which will be released in early 2009.
After receiving the survey questionnaire, any assistance needed in completing it can be obtained by contacting the ABS on 1800 089 494.
