Core principles
A shared basis for collection, aggregation, and reporting.
Standardised definitions
Each pillar submits against a common metric set so member data can be compared on the same basis.
Participant and organiser spend separated
Delegate and exhibitor activity is captured separately from organiser-side spend into Victoria.
Segmentation preserved
National and international participant shares are collected so advocacy can distinguish domestic and overseas contribution.
Aggregated before use
Benchmarks are published only as aggregated outputs, with minimum contributor thresholds to reduce re-identification risk.
Updated input model
Economic-impact inputs are split by who generated the spend.
The latest vendor model separates delegate and exhibitor activity from organiser-side direct spend, while preserving national and international segmentation for future analysis.
Delegates and exhibitors
- Direct event spend
- Indirect spend - tourism, retail and local services
- Event days and shoulder days
- Accompanying guests
- Exhibiting cost for conference and expo formats
- National and international segmentation
Organisers
- Direct spend into Victoria, including sponsorship and delegate entertaining
- National and international segmentation
Subject to final government input, a multiplier may be applied to selected spend categories.
Process
From submission to benchmark.
Collect
Members submit core metrics manually or through the CSV template for a defined reporting period.
Validate
The Hub checks metric codes, numeric values, reporting period consistency, and pillar alignment before storing submissions.
Aggregate
Accepted records are mapped to pillar metrics and rolled into benchmark snapshots once contribution thresholds are met.
Report
Members, administrators, and approved government viewers see benchmark outputs suited to their role.
Reporting lake foundation
Designed for longitudinal national reporting, not one-off spreadsheet snapshots.
The Hub keeps submissions, metric values, reporting periods, methodology versions, benchmark sample sizes, and admin review events as separate governed records. This lets future reports cut the same evidence by period, state, pillar, cohort, contributor status, and benchmark vintage without changing the member submission model.
Long-format metrics
Each metric value is stored with its submission, organisation, pillar, period, unit, and review status so analytics tools can aggregate at scale.
Governed lifecycle
Submitted, processed, and rejected records keep audit events so ABEA can defend which data was included in a report.
Report metadata
Member and stakeholder outputs carry methodology version, benchmark vintage, sample size, and reporting-period context.
Review points
Questions for ABEA, the vendor, and government reviewers.
- Confirm the delegate/exhibitor and organiser input category language matches the vendor model.
- Confirm which spend categories should receive any final government multiplier.
- Check that national and international segmentation labels are clear for members.
- Review whether event days, shoulder days, and accompanying guests need additional examples.
- Confirm whether Victoria-specific organiser spend should remain the default wording for all future reporting.