Ten million Australian households are expected to take part but the census has been marred by privacy fears

The Australian census: what you need to know about the national headcount

Billed variously as a valuable snapshot of the nation, a dangerous violation of privacy, or an opportunity to briefly convert to Jediism, Australia’s five-yearly census takes place on Tuesday night.

Ten million Australian households are expected to take part but the national headcount is mired in unprecedented controversy, with allegations that the move to collect the census online, and the requirement that personal details such as names will be retained for four years, pose an unprecedented risk to the safety of Australians’ data.

What is it?

The census is the largest collection of statistical information on Australia’s population. Every five years, it counts every person in every household, as well as those without homes, or not at home on census night. This year, it is expected more than 24m people will be included on census forms.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A still from an Australian Bureau of Statistic video illustrating Australia’s population growth before the census on 9 August. Photograph: AAP

Why do we need to do it?

The census gives the government an accurate measurement of the size and makeup of the Australian population.

The census tells the government where people live so it can plan and build accordingly. Building roads, working out where to put hospitals and schools, is impossible without knowing where the population is.

The census is also used as the basis for thousands of other calculations made by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, such as unemployment figures and national accounts. It is also used to determine the boundaries of seats in federal and state parliaments.

The census has changed over time. The first Australian census was in 1911. Since 1961, they have been held every five years. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were first included in the census in 1966. For the first time in 2011, Australians were given the option of having census forms retained for use by future historians and, since 2006, the census has asked for names and dates of birth.

Do I have to fill it out?

Yes. It is an offence to refuse to complete the census.

The Census and Statistics Act 1905 allows for a fine of up to $180 a day for failing to complete and return a census form or answer a specific question after being directed to do so by an “authorised officer”. This direction would be served after the census at the discretion of the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

People staying with friends, in remote areas, in caravan parks, camping, working night shift or without a place to stay are still expected to fill out the form.

The only people excluded are those not in Australia at the time of the census and foreign diplomats and their families.

What about the religion question?

That is voluntary. You can choose not to answer or to answer “no religion”.

The question reflects Australian’s declining identification with religion. In 1911, the number of people claiming “no religion” was one in 250; in 2011, it was one in five.



Is the census a threat to privacy?

Many people argue it is, including several newly elected senators (an augury, perhaps, of the new Senate’s readiness to acquiesce to government diktat).

The new Victorian senator Derryn Hinch has urged Australians not to return their forms and South Australia’s Nick Xenophon held a press conference on Monday to announce he would refuse to include his name on his census form, challenging the government to prosecute him.

Census 2016: Australians who don't complete form over privacy concerns face fines Read more

The census is taken with a guarantee of absolute confidentiality but this has been broken before in other countries in times of war. During the second world war, the US census bureau gave the government the names and addresses of Japanese-Americans, who were then rounded up and interned.



The Australian Bureau of Statistics says categorically there is no risk to people’s privacy.

“The ABS never has and never will release someone’s personal information, so we have an unblemished record over 110 years with the census information,” ABS agency head David Kalisch told the ABC, a curious calculation from the bloke entrusted with counting the nation, given the first iteration was in 1911, 105 years ago.

What are the hashtags all about?

Perceptive and germane question. With 2016 as the first online census in Australia, social media has been predictably enlivened.

Two competing hashtag armies have emerged:

#Mycensus is the pro-census camp

byronwritersfest (@bbwritersfest) A reminder...Aug 9 is #AusCensus night! It’s our moment to pause. Go to https://t.co/P9fDcRAWCQ for info #MyCensus pic.twitter.com/LkmUWfstEH

C (@cheynelawson) I just made a difference! Don't miss your moment to pause and make a difference. Complete your Census now https://t.co/ij4UTDYWoz #MyCensus

Censy McCensusface looks forward to this night immensely.

Censy McCensusface (@CryptoPartySyd) This is us filling in the census forms online #MyCensus #CensusFail pic.twitter.com/XsMbHnzRnB

#Censusfail is the opposing camp, arguing the census is an unjustified invasion of privacy, particularly the requirement to provide names.

Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) This is great. Australians: always wary of census. #censusfail https://t.co/w8FQ79c8Gd pic.twitter.com/dPdBERGe3v

Paul (@davispg) Massive privacy overreach by the Census may become an historic government own-goal if people don't trust#CensusFail https://t.co/MQuKMkyhFV

As ever on social media, respectful difference of opinion cannot be tolerated. There must be a winner. The #Censusfail hashtag appears to have cannibalised #MyCensus:

Rodney Cruise [江克魯斯] (@rodneycruise) Hey #mycensus You don't cater for 2 dad families. Require M & F. You want me to lie or not complete. Please advise #CensusFail @ABSCensus

Michael Byrnes (@MichaelByrnes) Oh dear. There is a promoted hashtag #MyCensus for the census. I suspect that won't go well. #CensusFail #auspol

What are the risks of the census data being leaked, hacked or misused?

The Bureau of Statistics says census data is secure: “The ABS has legal obligations to keep data secure and ensure that it does not disclose identifiable information about a person, household or business. The ABS never has and never will release identifiable census data. Key measures to safeguard information include strong encryption of data, restricted access on a need-to-know basis and monitoring of all staff, including regular audits.

Scott Ludlam: The census should be delayed to restore trust and confidence Read more

“After data collection and processing, the ABS removes names and addresses from other personal and household information. Names and addresses will be stored securely and separate from one another. No one working with census data will be able to view your personal information (name or address) at the same time as your other census responses (such as age, sex, occupation, level of education or income).”

However, others argue the government’s requirement for personal details was an “unnecessary intrusion” into Australians’ lives and a violation of the “inherent human right” to privacy.

The former head of the ABS Bill McLennan wrote in Independent Australia: “This, without doubt, is the most significant invasion of privacy ever perpetrated on Australians by the ABS. What is motivating me to speak out is that, as an Australian citizen, I am appalled that the ABS can think it can use the threat of prosecution to make me provide data that allows the ABS to set up, what is in effect, a ‘statistical Australian card’.

“I’d expect that a large proportion of Australians, if they really understood what is proposed, wouldn’t want their personal information used in this way – just like they opposed the Australia Card.”

• This article was amended on 9 August 2016 to specify that the $180-a-day fine does not start until an authorised officer issues a direction to complete the form.