Census boss says don’t panic if you have not received your letter yet

THERE’S only three days left until Census night, but you still haven’t received the form in the mail. This is what you need to know.

THE man heading up this year’s Census has one important message for those who are yet to receive their instruction letters in the mail: Do not panic.

With just three days until the annual snapshot of the country’s population is due to take place — and with the threat of $180 per day fines looming for those who fail to complete the Census — news.com.au has been inundated with correspondence from those who fear they will be missed.

The message from Chris Libreri is simple: you won’t be.

While ideally the form is filled in on or as close to August 9 as possible, people have until September 23 to do it.

Mr Libreri, the general manager of the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Census and Statistical Network Division, said less than one hundred fines were issued last Census and only to those who point blank refused to fill in the form.

“No one has ever been fined for being late with their Census form, the fines are only if you eyes-open refuse to a Census collector,” he said.

Nelson helping her mum Naida Ahern do the 2016 Census online.

If you have been missed, weren’t home, or simply forgot to do it, two weeks after Census night, field officers will begin knocking on doors to ensure you do complete it before September 23, Mr Libreri said.

“Five years ago, there were actually quite a lot of people, who didn’t get their Census form until after census day,” he said.

“I really want to emphasise we only progress to fine stage for those who refuse, it’s not about being late or not receiving the form.

“We allow two weeks for people to do their forms and put them in before we start the field visitation phase.

“We have 38,000 collectors across Australia to visit households who have not returned their forms.

“If you haven’t filled it out, we will be visiting. Some people need help, some have thrown the letter out and no one knew, but we will come to you.”

No one will be missed in the Census, head statistician Chris Libreri said.

Mr Libreri said if people were concerned they had been missed when all their neighbours had already had their instruction letters delivered, they should call the Census Inquiry Service, which has 1500 people manning phone lines over the next few days.

“If they know people in their street have a got a letter and they haven’t, they should call our line,” he said.

“The letter has to be resent, because that’s a security thing, and we send all of those out priority, so they should get them in a couple of days.”

Those where entire districts or neighbourhoods have been missed are likely to be receiving paper forms, which, like the past 105 years, will be delivered by a Census field officer.

Mr Libreri said about 20 per cent of the country had been identified as not having appropriate internet coverage to fill in the form electronically this year.

“We are sending letters to about 80 per cent of the population and they have nearly all gone out now,” he said.

“We think the majority of our calls now are from people who haven’t received anything and that’s because they are in the drop off area, old traditional areas where a collector will come and drop the form off.

“We use our own data of areas of low internet use to determine where paper forms will be delivered, such as areas with a high concentration of elderly people, or areas with low internet.

“We are finding people saying, ‘we don’t have a form yet,’ but they really don’t need to worry, we will absolutely get to them. Quite a few collectors will finish their work at the weekend.”

Mr Libreri said those who already had their digital logins could complete and submit their Census form at any time, as many people had already done.

About 20 per cent of the population only have the traditional paper option.

While ideally, he said, the snapshot is of Tuesday night, if you know exactly who will be in your household on the night, you could go ahead and complete it early.

If you weren’t sure, he said, it was best to wait until Tuesday night.

“For many, many Australians, they know what’s happening on Tuesday, the Olympics are on, they might know they will be home watching it, so they can go ahead and do it,” he said.

“About half a million have done their Census already, that’s 200,000 households who have already done it, and it’s worked absolutely beautifully, as it did last Census.

“It’s the same phenomenon as the traditional paper method, some people do it early, some do it a couple of days after and a lot of people do it on the night.”

Cody Robinson, will do the Census for the first time this year. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Mr Libreri said it was anticipated about 65 per cent of people would complete the Census online this year, up from 30 per cent in 2011.

He said those in share houses or boarding homes uncomfortable with others seeing their personal information on the form should phone the Census Information Service and request an individual form.

While many people had reported not being able to get through to the 24-hour Census line, Mr Libreri said the number of call takers had ramped up in the days up to and beyond Census night.

“I keep trying it myself and I get through three times in four,” he said.

“The metrics show we are right on top of it, 750,000 letters have gone out and they are being dispatched, they just might take a few days to get to people.”

Anyone with Census inquiries should phone the Census Inquiry Service on 1300 214 531 (or read our handy explainer).

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