Census 2016: ABS admits 90 percent submission rate before deadline

Australians still have until Friday to submit their survey forms before the Australian Bureau of Statistics concludes the 2016 Census of Population and Housing.

With only two days left before the deadline, the ABS said over 90 percent of the census forms have been completed online and on paper form. Of this rate, only 60 percent was done digitally, especially after the census website was hacked during the Aug. 9 Census night (Read: Bureau of Census website hacked on Census Night)

"We were a bit behind after census night, but we actually caught up with our projections by the following weekend," Census head Duncan Young clarified.

Nevertheless, Young said the 60 percent online response rate for the ABS’ maiden automated census is quite a “remarkable” achievement.

The last Census of Population and Housing was conducted in 2011 and it cost $440 million to conduct. It captured 98.3 percent of the population and covered 96.5 percent of the total Aussie households.

The 2016 census was digitized in order to save at least $100 million. However, survey participation is hovering under 95 percent, with only two days to go.

The ABS said it can force citizens to complete their submissions under the Census and Statistics Act 1905.

“If a person chooses not to participate in the Census, the Australian Statistician has the power under the Census and Statistics Act 1905 to direct them in writing to do so by issuing a Notice of Direction,” a spokesman for the ABS said. “The individual is then legally obliged to do so.”

Australians who fail to submit their census forms by Friday will be prosecuted and fined $180 per day after the Sep. 23 deadline.

After the census concludes, the ABS will randomly select 50,000 households to complete a Post Enumeration Survey, which compels respondents to allot time for a 10-minute interview about their census answers.

“The PES is an important part of our Census count and we’ve followed up every Census since 1966 with this kind of survey,” the ABS spokesman added.

To protect the integrity of the online census forms, the ABS has restricted access to the website outside of the country.

“As part of the suite of security measures in place for the Census, we have implemented measures to control access to the Census website from outside Australia. We are aware that these restrictions may stop people using VPN services from accessing the Census website,” the agency said.

Australians overseas can still access the census website by disabling their computer’s or gadget’s VPN service.

“To access the Census website you may need to disable your VPN service or use another computer or device which does not make use of a VPN. If you are still unable to access the online form, please let us know and we can arrange a paper Census form for you,” the ABS added.