Quick answer
When this site says a record has been "updated" or a change "detected," it means the weekly comparison process found a difference between two consecutive data snapshots. The change may have occurred days earlier at the source. The detection date reflects when ABN Signal surfaced it.
How updates appear on the site
Record updates will surface across the site in several ways as ABN Signal builds out its features:
Change feeds will list detected differences alongside the specific fields that changed. Each entry will carry a detection date.
On individual record pages, a record last updated date will show when the source data was last modified — separate from the site's own detection process.
History entries will preserve previous field values. If a business name changed, the history will show both the old and new values with the date each was detected.
All three will reflect the same underlying model: a weekly comparison between this week's data snapshot and last week's.
How to read update timing
Three dates can appear around a record change, and they often differ:
The detection date is when the site's weekly process spotted the difference. Think of it as the "we surfaced this on..." date. The effective date (where present) tells you when the change actually took effect.
The effective date appears on certain status fields. The source registry sets this date - the site simply displays it. For example, an ABN cancellation might carry an effective date weeks before the site detects it.
The source also sets its own timestamp for when it last touched the record. This is the record last updated field, and it can differ from both dates above.
Gaps between these dates are normal. A change could happen at the source on a Tuesday, appear in the source data by Wednesday, and show up on this site during the following Sunday's refresh.
Example timeline
Say a business updates its trading name on Monday 3 March. The Australian Business Register reflects the change by Tuesday 4 March. ABN Signal runs its weekly comparison on Sunday 9 March and detects the difference.
On the site, the record would show:
- Detection date: 9 March (when the site noticed)
- Record last updated: 4 March (when the source data changed)
- The actual business decision: 3 March (not visible in the data)
The six-day gap between the real event and detection is typical. The detection date marks when the site surfaced the change — the effective date (where present) marks when it took effect.
What a detected update tells you
A detected update confirms that a field value changed between two weekly snapshots. The detection date tells you when the site surfaced it. The effective date (where present) tells you when the change took effect at the source.
These two dates, combined with the specific field that changed, give you a clear picture of what moved and when.