[Edited extract from public address]
In a rapidly-changing demographic and economic environment, conducting a Census to count the number of households and people right down to place-of-residence enables us to, as accurately as possible, draw fair and just electoral boundaries.
This is the best way to ensure that our votes reflect our needs and desires. Regularly conducting a fair and accurate Census is central to conducting fair and accurate elections in any democracy.
It is concerning that threats to the veracity of Census data seem to be occurring more frequently. Here are three examples;
In Australia, the 2016 #CensusFail experience occurred where cyber attacks on the digital census nearly undermined the whole project. This was subsequently resolved by the dedicated ABS Census warriors.
The New Zealand’s 2016 Census was literally destroyed by an earthquake.
The ‘replacement’ 2018 New Zealand Census results were hit by an unexpectedly low response rate. Stats New Zealand has been working on resolving by using government administrative data to supplement the undercount, however they state that “..using other government data to compensate for missing data is not a silver bullet for all the information that a Census traditionally provides.”
The United States is currently fighting a high court battle against a bid by the Republicans to insert a citizenship question in the 2020 Census, which many say would decrease the response rate from illegal immigrants.
Putting to one side the political implications of that decision, the comparisons with what we’ve seen in New Zealand recently are striking. If the marginalised in our society aren’t counted in the Census, it makes it hard for anyone to advocate for their needs.
Conducting and participating in a Census is an essential part of conducting and participating in a democracy. Communities need to trust our governments to conduct an accurate and secure Census because a nation’s democracy is only as good as its Census.
MORE:
id - the population experts
10 Easey Street, Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia
Email: info@id.com.au
Website: www.id.com.au
The importance of Census data to how we make evidence-based decisions about funding child care, aged care, schools, housing and infrastructure.
Lesser known is the importance of Census data to understanding our economy and how it is performing and changing. Even less is known about how Census data is used to inform fundamental decisions about how we conduct a fair and inclusive democracy.In a rapidly-changing demographic and economic environment, conducting a Census to count the number of households and people right down to place-of-residence enables us to, as accurately as possible, draw fair and just electoral boundaries.
This is the best way to ensure that our votes reflect our needs and desires. Regularly conducting a fair and accurate Census is central to conducting fair and accurate elections in any democracy.
It is concerning that threats to the veracity of Census data seem to be occurring more frequently. Here are three examples;
In Australia, the 2016 #CensusFail experience occurred where cyber attacks on the digital census nearly undermined the whole project. This was subsequently resolved by the dedicated ABS Census warriors.
The New Zealand’s 2016 Census was literally destroyed by an earthquake.
The ‘replacement’ 2018 New Zealand Census results were hit by an unexpectedly low response rate. Stats New Zealand has been working on resolving by using government administrative data to supplement the undercount, however they state that “..using other government data to compensate for missing data is not a silver bullet for all the information that a Census traditionally provides.”
The United States is currently fighting a high court battle against a bid by the Republicans to insert a citizenship question in the 2020 Census, which many say would decrease the response rate from illegal immigrants.
Putting to one side the political implications of that decision, the comparisons with what we’ve seen in New Zealand recently are striking. If the marginalised in our society aren’t counted in the Census, it makes it hard for anyone to advocate for their needs.
Conducting and participating in a Census is an essential part of conducting and participating in a democracy. Communities need to trust our governments to conduct an accurate and secure Census because a nation’s democracy is only as good as its Census.
MORE:
id - the population experts
10 Easey Street, Collingwood VIC 3066 Australia
Email: info@id.com.au
Website: www.id.com.au