Politics & Government Census 2011

[Crimson Azure]

People who put in "Jedi" or some other moron answer for religion are just stupid since it gets disregarded, might as well entered atheist/agnostic and actually been useful.

What if someone is undecided, putting atheist/agnostic then can not correctly describe their beliefs/thoughts.

They may not have a religions affiliation but that does not mean they are atheist/agnostic.

 

[wmvaux]

The whole point of the exercise is to fill it out honestly so they can use the data when planning the future, the people who don't tell them are only adding to miss representing their area or situation.

Nothing like having so many smart people who out smart themelves

 

[JiggaDog]

My only concern in filling out the census completely honestly was that this information may be cross referenced with the ATO.

 

[vealesy]

So do you lie to the ATO?

 

[drd23]

My only concern in filling out the census completely honestly was that this information may be cross referenced with the ATO.

Got something to hide?

 

[beez]

I did it on Sunday, but my 3 housemates are yet to do it, lazy shits.

 

[BarneyBent]

What if someone is undecided, putting atheist/agnostic then can not correctly describe their beliefs/thoughts.

They may not have a religions affiliation but that does not mean they are atheist/agnostic.

You don't distinguish between atheist/agnostic, you just write "no religion".

 

[kaysee]

Any questions that stood out to you?

Not sure why they want my place of work address. Going through it now but just wondering if anyone else thought some of the questions were a bit strange.

Why do they really nee to know exactly where I work. I'm sure they have targeted a satellite onto me.

Guessing they're most likely using this information to determine how far people travel to work.

The ABS will use this for metrics like:

- age distributions
- location distributions
- location changes
- household numbers
- relationship statuses
- religion distribution
- household cars/tvs/internet access
- employeement types
- employeement industries
- earnings
- time spent at work
- utilisation of work related transport
- household chores

* as well as other areas that didn't apply to me (dependent children, Aboriginal/TSI.. etc)

Some questions seemed a bit limited by their timeframe (ie How did you get to work today? well, your car might have been getting repaired today so you took the bus etc)... but the idea of a census is that it is a "snapshot" in time from 1 census to the next. Snapshots need to be decisive at a given point in time irrespective of if some responses (such as "how you got to work") might not be your normal ones.

Cheers

 

[kaysee]

Census: for a Brighter and Better future? Yeah Right!
More like...
Census: for more invasion on your privacy.
or
Census: one of the most blatant wastes of paper.

You realise the information captured in the Census feeds into the statistics used by the Government to provide services to your community... don't you?

Sure lock your private butt away and don't answer anything... but then don't complain when:

- no public transport is rolled out to your area.
- no NBN is rolled out to your area.
- medical services are built further away from you.
- roads aren't built in your area.

The ABS website is one of the 1st places people go to for factual information to support their posts on BF and on BF people complain about spending 30 mins every 5 years to help the ABS out.

 

[kfc1]

campaigner* haven't given me any forms yet.

Tried doing it online last night, but then you need to call them to get a ref number and their stupid phone service wasn't working.

fun fun fun

 

[Arwib]

The whole thing with statistics is that a slight rate of non-response is ridiculously easy to factor in. If your household doesn't supply any useful data it'll just get substituted and estimated by a similar household.

My only concern in filling out the census completely honestly was that this information may be cross referenced with the ATO.

It's not. Nobody else gets access to any ABS records, that's been the law under the Census and Statistics Act for a century. The ABS is entirely independent and closed to other parts of the government, including ministers. Census data is also all anonymised immediately after data entry.

The alternative to a census would basically be a national ID card which registers everything you do, like in Scandinavian countries. They can push a button and get a snapshot of everyone at any time based on the national ID card database. In this electronic age, a census is actually a privacy-protecting alternative to that sort of setup. But then, Scandinavian countries also do wacky things like publishing everyone's tax returns... I don't think they have quite the same concerns about privacy as we do.

 

[JiggaDog]

It's not. Nobody else gets access to any ABS records, that's been the law under the Census and Statistics Act for a century. The ABS is entirely independent and closed to other parts of the government, including ministers. Census data is also all anonymised immediately after data entry.

Thanks, good info. However for the bolded part when I submitted my census it asked if I would allow my name to be kept together with my data in the archives for 99 years until it is publicly released.

 

[Arwib]

ABS don't keep address or name info in its data files (ie, individually identifying information). That just goes to the National Archives if you consent, for future generations to do things like geneology and other research.

I'd presume the National Archives get a copy at the point just before the ABS destroys the personal identifiers. They'll have their own systems and legislation for keeping info safe, just like they do with all the sealed classified stuff they get from Defence and intel agencies.

 

[Damon_3388]

The alternative to a census would basically be a national ID card which registers everything you do, like in Scandinavian countries. They can push a button and get a snapshot of everyone at any time based on the national ID card database. In this electronic age, a census is actually a privacy-protecting alternative to that sort of setup. But then, Scandinavian countries also do wacky things like publishing everyone's tax returns... I don't think they have quite the same concerns about privacy as we do.

They also do crazy things over there like provide free health care for everyone and provide free meals to all children in their schools.

 

[THRILLHO]

People who put in "Jedi" or some other moron answer for religion are just stupid since it gets disregarded, might as well entered atheist/agnostic and actually been useful.

Pretty sure that gets disregarded as well.

If you want to be recognised as atheist you should've put no religion.

 

[THRILLHO]

I did it on Sunday, but my 3 housemates are yet to do it, lazy shits.

I didn't complete the census form until today because I was out until late last night and my girlfriend didn't answer the door this morning because she thought it was the census collector and that she'd get in trouble for not completing it on time.

 

[Upgrayedd]

People who put in "Jedi" or some other moron answer for religion are just stupid since it gets disregarded, might as well entered atheist/agnostic and actually been useful.

Its our own form of the type of anarchy like in the UK, just somewhat more laid back

 

[DESTRUCTOR]

They also do crazy things over there like provide free health care for everyone and provide free meals to all children in their schools.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

 

[Damon_3388]

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Well yeah, it gets paid for through taxes, but it's certainly worthwhile IMO that their taxes are getting spent on these kind of things, to make sure that everyone is able to receive the same quality of health care and that kids aren't going hungry at school.

 

[vealesy]

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Apples grow on trees though?

 

[Holy Foley!]

I completed the eCensus. One of the questions was along the lines of: Does your household have internet connection?

 

[drd23]

I completed the eCensus. One of the questions was along the lines of: Does your household have internet connection?

I get the joke youre trying to make but the reason its in there is that the eCensus has to ask the exact same questions as the paper version

 

[THRILLHO]

I get the joke youre trying to make but the reason its in there is that the eCensus has to ask the exact same questions as the paper version

It's an outdated question.

A better question would've been do you have an internet connection: yes/no.

What type of internet connection do you have: ADSL, ADSL2, Cable, Satellite, Dial-up, other.

Is this satisfactory for your day-to-day needs: yes/no.

 

[walshy93]

The whole point of the exercise is to fill it out honestly so they can use the data when planning the future, the people who don't tell them are only adding to miss representing their area or situation.

Nothing like having so many smart people who out smart themelves

It's an adult version of the GAT all over again

 

[kaysee]

It's an outdated question.

A better question would've been do you have an internet connection: yes/no.

What type of internet connection do you have: ADSL, ADSL2, Cable, Satellite, Dial-up, other.

Is this satisfactory for your day-to-day needs: yes/no.

Why would this be better? Do you know how they're intending to use the information?

IIRC they grouped the responses into the clearly defined categories for internet access: None, Dial-up, Broadband, Satellite.

They didn't ask what types of TVs people own (B&W, Colour, Tubes, LCDs, Plasmas etc), or what type of cars they drive, or if they're satisfied with the public transport services.

They asked the questions they needed to address their requirements. If you're trying to tie this to the NBN topic there are other studies carried out for that seperate project.

Cheers