Despite more than three months having passed since Census Day, there’s still time to take part if you haven’t got your form in for some reason – but time is rapidly running out.
The final deadline for completing and filing a census form is Friday, June 30 [paper forms need to arrive by that date, while online forms close at 5pm].
At this stage, Stats NZ is unable to tell whether Wairarapa residents will match the return rate of the 2018 Census.
Despite the 2018 census being widely acknowledged as poorly executed, local residents did better than the national response rate of 85.8 per cent [Masterton: 87.4 per cent; Carterton: 90.6 per cent; Greytown: 91.5 per cent; Featherston: 88.4 per cent].
Stats NZ Wairarapa area manager Graham Streatfield told the Times-Age he is confident that the local team of collectors left “no stone unturned” to ensure everyone had the chance to fill out their census forms this time around.
“I am confident we – the great people of the Wairarapa – have exceeded the 2018 Census response,” said Streatfield, who also urged any stragglers to fill in their returns.
“It is easy to complete online, and your personal information is safe with Stats NZ – it won’t be shared with any other person, agency, or organisation,” he said.
The response rate for Census 2023 will be confirmed by the post-enumeration survey and won’t be known until 2024.
Anyone who needs help filing their census return can call freephone 0800 CENSUS or visit Wairarapa libraries for in-person support.
