A million asked to ‘please explain’ after missing the deadline for census
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has issued over a million final reminder notices to households who have not completed the compulsory census.
More than a million people failed to complete the Census last month (Image: Census Australia).
The ABS estimates it has received 9.3 million completed forms, based on 7.5 million forms submitted online through the digital service and 1.8 million paper forms mailed to the bureau by households.
But almost 1.3 million final reminder notices have been issued, with fines applying for non-submission.
The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of outstanding forms.
The ABS is also requesting people with a holiday home or investment property to go online and report if it was vacant or unoccupied on census night, August 10.
Census director Andrew Henderson said there were still opportunities for completing the national survey.
“If you don’t have your census instruction letter or paper form, you can go online and complete today. Select the ‘Get a Census Number’ option,” he said.
“Call us on 1800 512 441 to request a paper form or visit the census website.”
