"What we need to understand as a society is that it needs to be a choice whether you share your data with the world and whether you don't." Misel Burford will complete her first census on August 9. Credit:Peter Rae Ms Lane said Australians needed to be assured by the government that they would not be prosecuted and fined for not putting their names on the census if they did not wish. "[The Australian Bureau of Statistics] didn't factor in a large amount of media coverage over what is a significant change...the consultation process was so poor, they should be announcing that no one should be prosecuted." Australians that do not complete and return a census form could face fines of up to $180 a day.

An ABS spokesman said prosecutions and fines were "a last resort", and any individual concerns would be worked through on a case-by-case basis. The National Census will be conducted online for the first time this year. Sixty-five per cent of Australian are expected to complete the census online this year, doubling the online response rate of 2011.



Those who do complete the survey online will receive a 12-digit code enabling them to fill out the form online. The change is said to save taxpayers more than $100 million and 327,000 kilograms of paper (around 5000 trees). Asked about the ability of the online census database to cope with such high traffic numbers, an ABS spokesman said online could handle "1,000,000 form submissions every hour. That's twice the capacity we expect to need." Australians have complained they are struggling to get their hands on a paper census form. Credit:Viki Yemettas

He said the transition to online has driven a move to the "strongest encryption technology that current internet browsers will support". Guy Eilon, Australian vice president of defence grade global cyber-security firm Forcepoint, said providing personal information to the census online is, "in many ways, no different" to posting a status on Facebook, or banking online. Vice chair of the Australian Privacy Foundation Kat Lane is "not doing [the census] online." "Ultimately, there will always be risks in situations where personal data is collected and stored, from the biggest bank to the smallest business," he said.



"In these circumstances all parties...must act in a transparent way, and ensure they put in place the most appropriate security, privacy and governance processes." Households who would still like to fill out a paper form are told to contact the ABS to receive one, but community groups are complaining that the process is not so simple.

"Despite the ABS putting on 300 concurrent phone lines, many of those applying for paper census forms cannot get through", said Paul Versteege, policy coordinator for the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association. "The Census Inquiry phone line is overwhelmed and people are being told to call back later. Many people are not online and are concerned they won't receive their paper forms in time and will be fined $180 a day for every day they are late." Telephone connectivity issues have applied to both the ABS support hotline and the hotline to request a paper census form. Ms Lane said the unresolved privacy concerns of Australian's could mean many "might actually want to move to the paper", but are as yet unable to source a form. "I'm not doing it online, so I don't know what I'm doing on August 9."

Misel Burford, who will fill out her first census on Tuesday next week, said for young people a common reason for not completing the survey was that many see it "as a joke". Loading She believes people in the 20-24 age bracket would take the census if they were better informed about how their information was used by government. - with James Lemon Latest consumer news