Hopefully by now you’re all aware that the 2016 Census is happening next month. This is a quick blog to let you know some key dates around the Census – especially as the way the ABS are running things this time is a little different.
Getting online
As the ABS are hoping most people will fill in the Census online this time, they are doing a large mail out with access codes and instructions on accessing the Census form online. You can expect these in your mail box between August 1 and August 8. Also it will be addressed “To the Resident” so don’t get it confused with other junk mail!
Census night
August 9 is Census night! This is when the ABS would like you to fill out your Census form. Gather your household together, make a cup of tea or open up a bag of your favourite sweet treats and Census away!
If you don’t happen to fill in your Census on August 9, you will get a friendly reminder letter sometime between August 15 and August 17. If your form is still not complete by August 25, Census Field Officers working with the ABS will visit your home to encourage you to fill in the form, or assist if there is an obstacle to completing the form.
ABS Census data releases 2017
Following the Census, the ABS will work on collating and publishing the data.
The first data release from the ABS will occur on 11 April 2017, but it will be just national, state and capital city data for selected key person, family and dwelling characteristics, such as age, sex, religion, language and income – so while we aren’t able to update our local government sites at this point it will be a sneak peek for the data to come. We’ll be writing lots of blogs to share with you the new trends that are emerging across the country.
The main Census data release will start from 27 June 2017 with the bulk of the community level data for a wide range of topics, including information on small population groups and for small geographic areas such as Suburbs and Local Government Areas. This is the bit we’re most excited about!
From 20 October 2017, the final Census variables will be released – employment and occupation data, and migration numbers. See the detailed dates from the ABS here.
.id local government site updates
Once the ABS release the detailed Census data from June 2017, we will immediately start updating our .id local government sites.
To make sure you get access to the most important data sets as quickly as possible, we will update the sites topic by topic. The first topics will be updated within two weeks of the June 2017 data release.
We will take care of all the geography and category changes, so that you can compare the 2016 Census data for your area to Census data from the 2011, 2006 … and all the way back to 1991 Census, with confidence.
.id specialises in analysing and presenting Census data. Access our community profiles and see how some of the results from previous censuses relate to your local area: Community profiles for Australia and New Zealand
