Census 2016 Critical

With less than one week to Census night, the Australian Population Association’s Dr Alison Taylor urges all Australians to fill in their Census form on 9 August 2016.  The Census is the most important data source we have in Australia to help plan for the future. 

“With a boycott threatening to undermine the value of the national Census, our members are concerned about the huge amount of misinformation that is being circulated about the Census”, said Dr Taylor. 

“The future planning of our cities, towns and regions including infrastructure and health, education and social services depends on high quality Census data, so getting it right is very important”, said Dr Taylor. “Planning for better transport near where people live, affordable housing, shorter waiting times in hospitals – these are all issues our members work on using Census data”. 

Privacy concerns have been raised by many opposed to the Census.  But as long-term users of Census data Australian Population Association members are confident in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) safeguards to protect privacy.  Names and addresses have always been collected and used for quality checks.  This Census that information will be used to create a statistical linkage key, something that has been done in many countries including Canada, the UK and New Zealand.  This means even better information to help plan for the infrastructure and service we need. 

“Poor Census data risks our ability to plan for the kind of future Australia we want”, said Dr Taylor, “I urge all Australians to fill in the form on 9 August so we can make changes for an improved Australia for everyone”. 

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 About the Australian Population Association

The Australian Population Association (APA) is Australia’s leading professional association for demographers. The APA encourages the exchange of information in population and related fields and provides a forum for the discussion of population issues.