Under sections 10(4) and 11(2) of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, the Australian Statistician may, by notice in writing, direct a person to complete a form or answer a question. Under section 14 of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, a person who fails to comply with a notice of direction without reasonable excuse is guilty of an offence.
The number of notices of direction issued and the number of prosecution actions approved in recent years are shown in the following table.
15.1 NOTICES OF DIRECTION ISSUED AND PROSECUTION ACTIONS APPROVED
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| Type of statistical collection | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 |
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| Notices of direction issued | | | | | |
 | Census of Population and Housing | - | - | - | 595 | - |
| Household surveys | 1 | - | 4 | 13 | 1 |
| Business censuses and surveys | 13 | 6 | 36 | 21 | 23 |
| Total | 14 | 6 | 40 | 629 | 24 |
| Prosecution actions approved(a) | | | | | |
| Census of Population and Housing | - | - | - | 104 | - |
| Household surveys | - | - | - | 2 | - |
| Business censuses and surveys | 2 | - | 5 | - | 1 |
| Total | 2 | - | 5 | 106 | 1 |
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(a) Approved by the Australian Statistician for referral to the relevant office of the Director of Public Prosecutions or the Australian Government Solicitor. Any particular prosecution approval may pertain to a number of notices of direction. Each prosecution action approval is counted under the year in which the corresponding notices of direction are issued. Not every prosecution action approved proceeds to court (for example, because of subsequent receipt of the required information, or lack of sufficient information to serve a summons).
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