(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016)

Tonight is census night.  The lead up to the 2016 census has been steeped in controversy creating a great divide in federal politics.

Taking place every five years, this year’s compulsory census is Australia’s inaugural digital survey. The data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics will for the first time will be held for 4 years instead of the previous 18 months. (Miletic & Levy, 2016)

These changes have seen a backlash from some politicians claiming that privacy and security of sensitive data cannot be guaranteed.

The media have placed independent senator Nick Xenophon at the front of the pack, leading the charge in resisting the requirement to provide names and addresses amid the concerns for breaches of privacy and security.

Xenophon has been joined by fellow independent Jacqui Lambi and the Greens Sarah Hanson-Young and Scott Ludlam declaring their intent to complete the census excluding their names and address. (AAP, 2016)

By excluding their names and addresses from the census, penalties of $180 for every day the data is not provided can be imposed.

Names and addresses have been required since the first census in 1911 and the 16 preceding surveys.  The issue of privacy is not a new one with extensive review of privacy in the 1970’s including the 1979 Law Reform Commission report into privacy. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016)

Is this a case of the independent Xenophon party flexing their political muscle continuing the momentum of the recent NXT federal election success? How far is he prepared to go on this issues?

According to Xenophon (2016) he is prepared to face prosecution and be fined $180 per day, cumulative for every day of non-compliance.

(Hanson-Young, 2016)

Completing the census for a family of five people took 30 minutes and was an easy process.   At 9.50pm social media is overrun with tweets and posts of people unable to complete nor submit the census online.  #Census2016 or #CensusFail

Fortunately at 6pm the census was working well, names and addresses included.

Reference

AAP, 2016. Privacy still an issue with census: Xenophon. [Online]
Available at: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/top-stories/2016/08/09/census-2016–not-everyone-down-for-the-count.html
[Accessed 9 August 2016].

Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016. Home Page. [Online]
Available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Census?opendocument&ref=topBar
[Accessed 9 August 2016].

Hanson-Young, S., 2016. @sarahinthesen8. [Online]
Available at: https://twitter.com/sarahinthesen8/status/760357123188326401
[Accessed 9 August 2016].

Miletic, D. & Levy, M., 2016. Census meltdown? Rubbish, says ABS: Here’s what you need to know about census 2016. [Online]
Available at: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/census-meltdown-rubbish-says-abs-heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-census-2016-20160808-gqo1jv.html
[Accessed 9 August 2016].

Xenophon, N., 2016. Releases – Why I will refuse to provide my name in the Census form, despite the risk of prosecution. [Online]
Available at: http://www.nickxenophon.com.au/media/releases/show/why-i-will-refuse-to-provide-my-name-in-the-census-form-despite-the-risk-of-prosecution/
[Accessed 9 August 2016].