It’s not as exciting as Christmas Eve or as rowdy as New Year’’s Eve, but the one-every-five-years census night is tonight. There’s no need to prepare enough food to cover a large dining table or invite friends and neighbours over, but it is an important event.
Before I go any further, please don’t invite friends and family over; it will be much more trouble than it’s worth [in other words, just like Christmas].
We should have all got our census envelope [or maybe two of them] by now, and some uber-organised people may have already filled them in. They are likely the same people who annually complete their Christmas shopping in October, and I don’t like their gloating any more than you do.
The census collection period for the areas impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle has been extended, but the rest of us need to complete the census today. Modern technology pops up more directly this time round, making it possible to complete the census simply by receiving a dedicated census code to your phone.
It wasn’t that easy in 2018. Either that or the general population didn’t feel particularly bothered because the number of completed forms from then was very low, by historical standards. One in seven people did not complete the 2018 census, which makes this census all the more critical for those planning and preparing for the New Zealand of the future. Just three per cent of households received census forms.
Census data is used for everything from setting how many general electorates there are and how big they might be, through to the key areas of healthcare funding, understanding what skills we’ve got, or haven’t got, in the community and what additional skills we might need to train over the next few years.
The Government, keen to avoid making the mistakes of 2018, has helped to provide for 3500 census workers on the ground – twice as many as the last census – a 41 percent increase in forms delivered and a prioritisation of Maori and other groups and regions with lower response rates in 2018.
This census has not been without its problems. CERT NZ, a cyber security organisation, issued a warning yesterday about fake websites and social media accounts claiming to represent the official census.
It said scammers often target large events such as a census; using the opportunity to harvest an individual’s information and sometimes even defraud people out of money. Charming. Take a moment to check the information you’re getting is from the official source. Stats NZ has already spotted and removed fake accounts trying to imitate the official Twitter channel.
The paper version can take a bit of effort, particularly if you live in a household filled with other humans. In the online version, you will not be asked questions that previous answers indicate are not relevant. For example, indicating that you are not of Maori descent will mean you skip the iwi affiliation question. Conversely, if you are Maori you can use an online map to indicate your iwi affiliation – an option that isn’t available using printed forms.
Whichever medium you choose, just make sure you get it done.
