The Census Comes to You
In the 1800s, attempts to count the population were called "musters" - requiring communities to gather at specified locations to be counted. Musters were also used as a means of measuring food distribution and other supplies to the number of people who needed them.
Nowadays, the census comes to the people. The ABS has recruited approximately 30,000 collectors, the largest ever peace time recruitment of temporary staff, to travel wherever you may be, using the thousands of maps that have been produced.
To get the best possible picture of the population, the ABS goes to great lengths to ensure that all Australians are counted. Census collectors are dispatched in helicopters to highlands and islands in some of the remotest parts of the country while others are sent into mines, hospitals, hotels and even off-shore oil drilling platforms. Residents of all Australian Territories including the Cocos and Keeling Islands and Christmas Island are included in the census - even those in Antarctica!
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