AUSTRALIA – CENSUS

Gender on the cards for census

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Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 6 : 18-Feb-25

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has advised that the 2026 census will see people asked their "sex recorded at birth" for the first time. The change to how the census asks people about their sex at birth is intended to distinguish it from new questions on gender and sexual orientation. Other changes to the census in 2026 will include counting the number of children who are home-schooled and increasing the the number of ancestries collected from two to four, so as to get a better understanding of cultural diversity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Census changes to dilute religion

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Original article by Rhiannon Down, Paul Garvey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 30-Apr-24

Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Timothy Costelloe has expressed concern about plans by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to make changes to census questions regarding religion. Accusing the ABS of including a "new bias in favour of no religion", Costelloe says the changes will lead to an increased number of invalid responses. The changes are also opposed by Anglican Bishop of South Sydney Michael Stead, who suggest they will produce less accurate data; he said his concern is that this data is often used by those who want to "champion the fact that Australia is becoming more and more secular and less and less ­religious".

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

PwC spin-off counting on census role

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Original article by Tom Burton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 28-Jun-23

PwC’s contract to run the 2021 digital census was worth nearly $40m; the firm and its technology partner Amazon Web Services had been regarded as the leading contenders to run the 2026 census prior to the tax leaks scandal. The census work would be undertaken by PwC’s public sector consulting arm, which will be sold to private equity firm Allegro Funds for just $1. Codenamed Bell, the new entity is likely to be subjected to intense scrutiny by the government authorities responsible for awarding the census contract.

CORPORATES
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD

More than one in five Australians worked from home at height of 2021 lockdowns, census shows

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Original article by Caitlin Cassidy, Nick Evershed
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 12-Oct-22

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that 25 per cent of capital city residents were working from home on Census day in August 2021. Some 20 per cent of people nationwide worked from home on the day of the Census, which coincided with COVID-19 lockdown restrictions across most of eastern Australia. The figures also show that 31 per cent of NSW residents worked from home on Census day, compared with just 4.8 per cent in 2016. Likewise, 26 per cent of people in Victoria were working from home, up from 4.6 per cent in 2016. Australian statistician David Gruen says the 2021 Census provides a "fascinating insight" into how Australians worked and lived during a global pandemic.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Census to offer COVID-19 snapshot

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Jun-22

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release the first major data set from the 2021 Census in the week beginning 27 June, with demographers, business and the Australian Electoral Commission among the many users of census data. Andrew Leigh, Labor’s Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, who is the minister in charge of the ABS, notes that many people who completed the 2021 census would have done so away from their normal place of residence as a result of COVID-19 restrictions. Leigh says that planning for the 2026 Census is already underway.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Census system rebuilt and ready to go

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 12-Apr-21

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is hoping for 95 per cent participation in the 2021 census, which will take place on 10 August. The ABS has engaged Amazon Web Services, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and PwC to redesign and bolster the systems that operate and protect the census as it seeks to avoid the major failures that hit the 2016 one. Around 63 per cent of Australian households completed the 2016 census online, and the ABS is hoping to increase that figure to 75 per cent in 2021, while around 38,000 temporary jobs will be created as part of the 2021 census.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, AUSTRALIAN CYBER SECURITY CENTRE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS

KPMG review into bungled census ‘compromised’, says whistleblower

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman, Edmund Tadros
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 29-Jun-18

Harmers Workplace Lawyers is taking legal action against KPMG and three of its senior executives on behalf of former associate director James Eldridge. KPMG has been accused of taking adverse action against Eldridge; he was dismissed as a result of complaints he made about KPMG’s review of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ IT systems following the flawed 2016 census. Eldridge is said to have told KPMG that he felt that the review was not accurate or independent. KPMG has denied his allegations, and has stated that his dismissal was for "appropriate reasons".

CORPORATES
KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HARMERS WORKPLACE LAWYERS, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Doubts raised on mine job numbers

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Original article by Andrew Burrell
The Australian – Page: 9 : 8-Nov-17

Data from the 2016 Census shows that just 907 of the 8,000 Aboriginals who live in the Pilbara region currently work in the iron ore industry. In contrast, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Fortescue Metals Group claim that they employ about 1,850 Aboriginal people in the Pilbara. Perth-based lawyer Franklin Gaffney says the census figures give credence to claims that Aboriginal employment numbers in the mining sector are being inflated. He has proposed independent monitoring of native title agreements to ensure that companies are meeting their targets for employing indigenous people.

CORPORATES
RIO TINTO LIMITED – ASX RIO, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, LAVAN LEGAL, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Migrant nation born as Christian heritage fades

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Original article by Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 28-Jun-17

Data from the 2016 Census shows that the proportion of Australians who identify as Christian has fallen to 52 per cent. The data also shows that 49.3 per cent of Australians were either born overseas or have at least one parent who was not born in Australia. Meanwhile, a growing number of migrations originate from Asia rather than Europe, with people from India and China accounting for 27 per cent of migrants since 2006. The Census data also indicates that the ageing of the nation’s population is gathering pace, with the number of Australians aged 65+ rising by 57 per cent since 2006.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY. CENTRE FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH AND METHODS

Nation’s snapshot: ages, mortgagees on the rise

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Original article by Rick Morton
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 12-Apr-17

The first data from the 2016 Census shows that the "typical" Australian is a 38-year-old married women with two children and a mortgage. While both parents of this average Australian were born in Australia, the Census data shows that in both Victoria and New South the average resident now boasts at least one parent who was born overseas. The data also indicates that Australia has become a nation of home loan borrowers. New South Wales and Tasmania are now the only states where a majority of residents own their home outright.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY