What is the NSW Treasury Employment Calculator?
The NSW Treasury Employment Calculator is a tool for agencies to estimate the number of jobs supported by government initiatives. It is consistent with existing guidance on how analysis of employment supported by government expenditure should be undertaken (TPP 09-7 Policy Paper and TRP 09-3 Methodology Paper).
The calculator uses 2018-19 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Input-Output Tables to derive employment multipliers (i.e. the number of full-time equivalent jobs supported per $1 million of government expenditure) for government initiatives. It has not been updated with more recent input-output data due to the impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
The calculator is not definitive, rather it is one way to estimate employment impacts and is supplementary to other assessment methods, such as cost-benefit analysis.
It was updated in October 2024 to make it easier to use and will continue to be reviewed and refined over time.
Why was it developed?
The calculator was developed in response to requests by agencies seeking Treasury’s assistance to rapidly estimate the employment impacts of programs, or investments. It provides a standard method to estimate employment impacts and facilitates comparison between programs.
How to use the calculator
Users should first read the ‘ReadMe’, ‘Approach’, and ‘Guidance and Limitations’ worksheets within the calculator to understand how the model works and how results should be interpreted. User inputs should be documented and based on reliable information. Key inputs required include:
- the name of the investment proposal,
- the industries impacted by the investment proposal, and
- the distribution of government expenditure across time and industries.
Employment estimates produced by the calculator refer to jobs supported across Australia. Impacts cannot be attributed to any specific location, as the multipliers are derived using ABS National Accounts data. Multipliers for New South Wales alone would be lower due to the strong economic linkages between states.
In using the employment calculator, the user is responsible for any results. Users must not in any way attribute results to NSW Treasury without permission.
Limitations and caveats when using the calculator
Input-output multipliers provide an indication of the potential impacts of government expenditure on the economy under strict assumptions. They do not, however, measure community welfare and are supplementary to cost-benefit analysis.
Input-output multipliers also tend to overestimate employment impacts. To address potential overestimation, the calculator incorporates direct and indirect industry employment impacts but excludes consumption effects. This method is commonly applied across jurisdictions and helpful when comparing projects.
Resources
Download the NSW Treasury Employment Calculator.
