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The Journey: History of the Census
The Journey: History of the census
Colonial Counting
Australia has a history of regular population stocktakes from the time of British settlement. From 1788, stocktakes took place in the form of musters and victualling lists, maintained to control food stores. In 1828, Australia’s first census was held in New South Wales where it then became a regular occurrence. The practice was soon established amongst the other colonies.
The censuses throughout Australia were gradually made more compatible, and in 1881 a census was held simultaneously in each of the colonies. A uniform census schedule was developed for the 1901 Census, when it became clear that Federation was forthcoming.
Early Australian Censuses
The first Australian national census occurred at midnight between 2 and 3 April 1911. Tabulation of data was carried out almost entirely by hand, with staff sorting and counting over 4 million cards. Results from the 1911 census took a long time to be released and were further delayed by World War I.
The 1921 Census introduced automatic tabulation equipment, hired from England. The next Australian census was held in 1933, delayed because of the Depression. The census due to be held in the early-1940s was also delayed, until 1947, by World War II.
Times of Change
The 1960s was a time of great change in the ABS and this was reflected in several changes to the development and processing of the census. Pilot testing of the form occurred for the first time and full family and household coding was introduced. Computers were used to process data, improving data quality and increasing the range of analysis.
In 1967 the Commonwealth held a referendum resulting in an amendment of the Constitution, allowing the Indigenous population to be included in the 1971 census count.
In the 1970s a public debate emerged about privacy and the census. One of the key elements under question was the inclusion of names. Excluding names was found to reduce the accuracy of the data, as individuals were more likely to leave questions blank and post-enumeration surveys would not be possible.
The Evolving Census
New procedures to enumerate Indigenous Australians were developed in 1981, including using Aboriginal enumerators and a special form for Indigenous peoples in remote areas.
In 1986 the ABS adopted the management of the census for New South Wales and Victoria. This was previously done by the Australian Electoral Commission, which had undertaken the distribution and collection of census forms for all censuses since 1921. This move was so successful that the ABS assumed responsibility for all states in subsequent censuses.
Moving Forward
A two-stage release of data was introduced in 1996, with those topics that could be processed easily released first. In the Census conducted in 2006, the same two-stage release of data approach has been used.
A key change implemented in the 2006 Census was the ability for people to submit census responses securely via the Internet, reducing operational costs and improving the quality of the data collected. Expanding census responses via the Internet will be a major focus for the ABS into the future.
As the demand for information grows within society, so does the significance of the census. In a world where there are often competing sources for the same information, there is still no source as comprehensive as a census.
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