15. APP J. Economic Needs Report

4.5 EXISTING RETAIL EXPENDITURE BY CATEGORY
This section provides data on retail expenditure for the trade areas. The estimated retail expenditure for the trade
area is based on information sourced from MDS Market Data Systems, which utilises a detailed micro-simulation
model of household expenditure behaviour for all residents of Australia. The model takes into account
information from a wide variety of sources including the regular ABS Household Expenditure Surveys, National
Accounts data, Census data and other information.
The MarketInfo product from MDS starts with the Household Expenditure Survey, the comprehensive exercise
conducted by the ABS every five years. In the latest survey, just over 10,000 households across Australia were
asked to provide complete details of their spending over specified periods. In addition to a thorough interview,
each member of the household in question over the age of 15 was required to keep a diary of every expenditure
made over a two-week period. The respondents itemise all outgoings by attaching grocery receipts as well as
accurately recording all other transaction. Complete financial and social information about the entire household is
also provided.
All of the data is then matched with Census, Centrelink, National Accounts and other data collected by state and
national governments to create a model of spending that is at the heart of MarketInfo. Micro-simulation
techniques are the method by which these data calculations are performed.
MarketInfo calculates spending levels down to the Statistical Area (SA), the smallest defined area used by the ABS.
Each SA covers an area of approximately 180 households. MarketInfo is also able to draw down to this level
because it starts with the unit records from the Household Expenditure Survey and uses the spending and other
information from all of the over 10,000 surveyed households as the basis for modelling these actual results to the
broader community.
MarketInfo is used by a broad range of organisations throughout Australia. Among current users are AMP,
Centrelink, Coles Myer, Commonwealth Bank, Ernst & Young, KPMG Consulting, Lend Lease, McDonalds, WA
Health Department, Westfield and Woolworths. Throughout New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, the
MarketInfo estimates of spending behaviour that are prepared independently by MDS are commonly used by all
parties in Economic Impact Assessments of a similar nature to this report.




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