Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

In August this year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will conduct the 15th census of population and housing, which will provide invaluable information about our country to be used in research and decision-making by governments and the community and will also provide the opportunity to preserve a picture of our society for future generations. In the 2001 census over 50 per cent of respondents elected to have their census forms preserved, and this information will be retained by the National Archives of Australia for a closed-access period of 99 years before being released for genealogical and other research purposes. The Census Information Legislation Amendment Bill 2005 seeks to extend this practice of retaining census information where consent is provided to the 2006 census and subsequent censuses. Consequently, for persons who give consent, their 2006 census information will be retained by the National Archives with access provided in the year 2105.

In censuses prior to 2001, all name-identified information was destroyed by the ABS; in 2001, where a person did not provide consent, their information was also destroyed. This process will continue for the 2006 census of population and housing and all subsequent censuses. The origin of this bill—as has been stated by other senators here today—lies with a recommendation by the Standing Committee on Legislation and Constitutional Affairs, in its report Saving our census and preserving our history. The standing committee’s recommendation was that keeping name-identified census information for future research, with appropriate safeguards, will make a valuable contribution to preserving Australia’s history for future generations. The bill includes provisions to ensure that Australians can trust the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the National Archives of Australia to protect the information provided and not release any name-identified information in the 99-year closed-access period. During processing, the confidentiality of the information is protected under the Census and Statistics Act 1905, as is all information provided to the ABS. There are also provisions to protect the information once it is passed to the National Archives, and it will not be available to other bodies—including courts, tribunals and Commonwealth agencies—for any purpose.

At this point, I will deal with some issues that Senator Bartlett raised in the Democrats’ proposed amendment. The amendment proposed by the Australian Democrats will have the effect of precluding the transfer of census information to the Archives for those Australians who have elected to have their census records kept. The phrase ‘other than in accordance with this act’ is included specifically to allow the transfer of census information to archives, as legislated in section 8A of the Census and Statistics Act, to take place. This is the only instance of the Census and Statistics Act allowing the transfer of census information to an agency. No other transfers of census information to agencies are allowed for or included under the Census and Statistics Act or these proposed amendments.

The Australian government will also not be supporting the amendments to this bill proposed by the Australian Greens. The content of the census is determined every five years on the basis of community consultation, followed by thorough testing. The content of Australia’s census is not set in legislation; rather, it is contained in a determination that was tabled before parliament on 29 November last year. With the content finalised, the forms have been printed, so any changes now would require the forms to be redesigned and reprinted, delaying the census by up to one year and costing around $20 million. In addition, it is unlikely that the topic proposed by the Greens could be included in the census, as great care has been taken in choosing the topics, assessing the importance of the issue, the need for data, the quality of the responses and the reaction of the public. Consultation on the content of the 2011 census will take place in 2008, and the Greens, along with all members of the Australian community, will be welcome to make suggestions for census topics at that time. If sexuality were suggested as a topic in this process, whether or not it could be included in the census would be assessed then, using the criteria I have already described.

To return to the present: the 2006 census of population and housing will be held on Tuesday, 8 August. For this undertaking, the ABS will be employing approximately 30,000 census collectors to deliver and collect census questionnaires, and the Australian public will also have the option of completing their 2006 questionnaire online. The recruitment of field supervisors has commenced. My colleague the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer, Chris Pearce, launched the recruitment campaign two weeks ago. Already there are more than 15,000 applications for the 3,500 supervisor vacancies. This augurs very well for a successful census. The 2006 census requires the participation of all Australians, and I thank the Australian community for their support of the work of the ABS in its ongoing activities, and I look forward to their cooperation in the project.

As a result of the census, Australians will have accurate information on the number and key characteristics of people in Australia on census night and the dwellings in which they live. The census will provide a snapshot of our society, who we are, how we live and what we do. As before, topics will include ancestry, education, occupation and transport to work. Additional insights will come from new questions about people with a disability and unpaid work done. All this information will be valuable for research and planning activities of governments and other users. I think senators for their contributions and commend the bill to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.