Census 2021: make sure you count on Tuesday

Many people may have already filled in the census online or in a paper form ahead of time, knowing where they will be on census night, August 10. And everyone in your house on census night needs to be counted, from visitors to babies.

Whenever you may do it, it's important to get it right.

Every five years, the census counts every person and household in Australia and the data helps plan and deliver services across the nation. Just one local example is the Cancer Council ACT, which uses census age and ancestry data to better understand the age breakdown and ancestry of the Canberra population so it can tailor its SunSmart Program.

Canberra is central to the census effort.

From the cavernous Australian Bureau of Statistics headquarters, ABS House, in Belconnen to Braddon resident Dr David Gruen just happening to be the Australian statistician, Canberra is front and centre of delivering the statistical behemoth that is the census.

An ABS spokesperson said in Canberra, the Australian Bureau of Statistics had hired more than 1000 staff to help deliver the 2021 census. That included field operations and support, data operations and coding, and customer support staff based across ABS House and a Census Campus in Canberra.

The Census is also major employer with 38,000 temporary jobs required across Australia. The largest cohort is the recruitment of 20,000 field officers within local areas - a crucial workforce that will be on the ground within communities ensuring everyone participates in the 2021 census. The remaining staff are based across the Australian Bureau of Statistics state offices.

The first Australian census took place in 1911. And, despite what the conspiracy theorists may say, asking for names and addresses is nothing new. The ABS has collected names and addresses in every census since 1911. But laws prevent the ABS from releasing information that might identify anyone.

Filling in the census is compulsory. If you don't you could be fined $220 a day until you do. And while you can't be fined for defacing the census form, you can be fined up to $2220 for providing false or misleading statements.

Ahead of census night on Tuesday, family history site ancestry.com.au has mined through decades of census records from across the globe to uncover some unique, humorous and rebellious entries within the data.

The responses on the yellowed pieces of paper, in fine inked handwriting, show not everyone was on the same page with filling in the forms correctly.

In the 1911 Census of England and Wales, one mother put down that her 19-year-old daughter's occupation was "hiding at home".

In the same 1911 Census, a grandmother listed her two-year-old granddaughter's occupation as "annoying other people".

In the 1920 US Census, a woman named Halloween Hildebrand was recorded. The Census didn't record birth dates so it's not clear if she was born on October 31. In the 1940 US Census, there were 40 people named Halloween.

In the 1911 UK Census, 34-year-old Fred Wombwell listed his occupation as lion tamer. He and his wife were part of a travelling zoo. In their household on the Census night of April 2, 1911, there was an elephant trainer, camel attendant, monkey attendant and menagerie manager to name a few.

In the 1911 Census of England and Wales, a 25-year-old woman wrote in tiny writing in the box for occupation: ''Difficult to say, should have been an authoress but Drane Ltd publishers who received £35 towards publishing my book went into liquidation".

And also in the 1911 UK Census, suffragette Rosina Pott refused to fill in the form, instead scrawling over the page: "Votes for women. No vote, no information about my household. Apply again when a Women's Enfranchisement Bill is passed".

All very interesting, but don't let your voice be lost in the more than 10 million households and more than 25 million people who will be counted in the 2021 census.

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