Major Test
A test of census form design, content and procedures is about to take place in 20,000 households in Victoria. Selected suburbs in Melbourne along with the township of Beechworth and its surrounding areas were chosen for the test because these areas contain the sorts of dwellings that will allow the ABS to test new and improved procedures.
Procedures differ between urban and rural areas, and testing must include both types of communities to effectively test all census procedures.
In urban areas, secure apartment buildings pose some access problems for collectors to drop off and collect census forms. This test will enable the ABS to evaluate the success of new procedures for secure apartment buildings, in particular the procedures for mailback or eCensus return. This is aimed at minimising the need for a collector to have to return to secure apartment buildings to pick up forms, and at the same time test the eCensus technology.
Caravan parks are another type of dwelling that have given collectors some challenges in the past, and the ABS is now looking at procedures to help improve the quality of data that is collected from caravan park residents.
The ABS is also using this test to evaluate the content of the census forms. New questions on Unpaid Work, Children Ever Born and Need for Assistance are being evaluated, as well as improvements to the design and wording of existing questions.
In the lead up to each census a series of tests are held - each of increasing size. The Census of Population and Housing is the largest and most complex peacetime operation in Australia, and these practice runs put ABS systems, software and people to the test and allow improvements to be made before the main event.
Testing the Census
| test | location | date | households |
| Skirmish | Canberra | Mar 2002 | 1,000 |
| Minor Test | Sydney | October 2002 | 2,000 |
| Minor Test | Brisbane | August 2003 | 6,000 |
| Major Test | Melbourne/Beechworth | August 2004 | 20,000 |
| Dress Rehearsal | TBA | August 2005 | 40,000 |
| The Main Event |  | August 2006 | 10,000,000 |
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