The Australian Bureau of Statistics is involved in one of the biggest peace time recruitment operations in Australia's history.

Soon about 30,000 staff will have been employed across Australia to work on the distribution and collection of Census forms and the administration of Census staff.

Collectors will work from 30 June until September 9. In urban areas a Collector has responsibility for about 500 homes. In rural areas a Collector has responsibility for upwards of 200 homes because of the extra travelling time.

Collectors work part-time and will require their own vehicles. The majority of Collectors will earn between $800 and $1,500, depending on the workload.

About 3,500 Area Supervisors have already been employed nation wide. The Area Supervisors recruit, train and manage about 26,000 Collectors nation-wide.

The ABS has a structure that mirrors Australia's federal system. There is a Central Office in Canberra and regional offices in the states and territories.

Each state and territory office has a Census Management Unit. These units are responsible for employing temporary Census staff.

This all starts with the recruitment of District Managers. They were employed towards the end of 2005 from their local communities.

There are about 60 District Managers Australia-wide.

District Manager workloads vary depending on their location. Obviously workloads in the cities tend to be geographically smaller and more highly populated.

District Managers are responsible for all activities related to the Census in their designated districts. They manage the counting in their districts and are responsible for liaising with local authorities and dealing with issues of public interest and concern as they arise. They report directly to the Census Management Units in their states and territories.

District Managers are responsible for the recruitment and training of Area Supervisors.

A District Manger supervises between 15 and 25 Area Supervisors. Again, the number varies between city and country areas.

Examples of areas covered by a District Manager: In the Australian Capital Territory Region one District Manager is responsible for all the ACT, excluding areas with many secure access buildings.

Another District Manager specialises in areas with many secure access buildings in the ACT and Queanbeyan/ Braidwood area.

An Area Supervisor in metropolitan Canberra looks after about four suburbs, but this varies from half a suburb for large suburbs (i.e Kambah) to six suburbs.

Another ACT Area Supervisor manages just the Cooma township, while another manages the Bombala/ Delegate/ Biddi area in Southern NSW - an area larger that the ACT.

Area Supervisors come from a variety of backgrounds. In the past Area Supervisors have been retired managers, former and serving school teachers, community workers, people working part time, parents at home with children.

The areas managed by Area Supervisors are divided into Collection Districts. An Area Supervisor has responsibility for an average of 12 Collectors.

The Area Supervisor is responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Collectors in their area. This involves supervising Collector workloads, form collection and delivery.

Most Collectors will be responsible for delivering and collecting forms from about 500 households in urban areas.

Rural Collectors will collect from about 200 households, because of the additional travelling time.

The total wages and salaries of this small army will amount to $60 million, the highest single outlay in the Census. This money will be spent in communities across the nation.