Compliance case studies
Government agencies use ABR data to help identify and verify businesses that are complying with their legislative obligations.
The following case studies show how we have used ABR data to help communities:
Note: If you have had success using ABR data and would like to share your story with other agencies, contact the ABR.
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations - driving greater efficiencies with records management
The Australian Business Register has helped drive efficiencies in how the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) records data on federal enterprise agreements in its Workplace Agreements Database.
A spokesperson from the DEEWR said ABR data eliminates the need to manually investigate industry information, saving time and money for his team and the community.
When DEEWR receives an approved enterprise agreement from Fair Work Australia, they use the associated ABN to automatically upload the employer's legal name and the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) industry information from ABR records into their database. By not having to make an ANZSIC industry selection for each agreement, we save time and help ensure greater consistency in ANZSIC information in the DEEWR database over time.
‘Using the ABN, we are able to efficiently input industry information on over 1,800 enterprise agreements into our database each quarter,’ the spokesperson said.
‘We use this information to complete various statistics on employment rates and wages in specific industries and make this available on our website each quarter’.
TasBuild – identified non-compliance with the Construction Industry (Long Service) Act 1997
TasBuild Limited is responsible for administering Tasmania’s long service scheme for the benefit of workers and employers in the state’s construction industry. They monitor and compare what employers report as service – along with the contributions made on behalf of an employee to the fund.
TasBuild accesses ABR data via ABR Explorer to identify construction businesses located in and operating throughout Tasmania. ABR data is used to investigate and ensure businesses that are non-compliant with the Tasmanian Construction Industry (Long Service) Act 1997 comply with their legal obligations. This is important for all businesses and workers, as those employers who are non-compliant with their statutory obligations gain an unfair financial advantage over law-abiding businesses.
Recently, TasBuild conducted data-matching between their own records and information held on the ABR. They identified a significant number of differences, particularly around independent contractors/employees. This alerted TasBuild to a potential significant financial liability to the fund they manage – impacting all persons who have, or may have in the future, an entitlement to a payment from the fund.
TasBuild will continue to ensure all workers are paid their eligible long service leave entitlements and help put an end to non-compliance.