The 2026 Census is over and a record number of Australians completed the survey online. While millions completed the form early, the Australian Bureau of Statistics says anyone yet to do the survey will be followed up this week.
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TRANSCRIPT
The 2026 Census is done and millions of households across Australia got in early to complete their survey.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says more than 5 million households completed the form by 10am on Tuesday, more than half the total amount of 2021's count.
It was Australia's biggest and most digital census on record, with more than 85 per cent of households expected to have filled out their form online.
Speaking to SBS, ABS spokesperson Emily Walter says it was an exciting night for the bureau.
"Yeah. Well, last night was an exciting night for us. So almost two-thirds of households have provided a response to the census now, which is just fantastic. And we really thank Australia for getting on board in that moment. So it's terrific."
For those who haven't filled out the census, officials say they will be following up with households in the coming week.
Those who refuse to complete the survey will face daily fines of $364.
While the Census was completed in English, help was available in multiple languages and the ABS offered over the phone support and in person pop-up hubs across the country.
Originally from Afghanistan, Ramin Sediqi told SBS that he was happy to do the survey.
["I think there is no personal question. If our government are asking the question about your information, we should give them politely answers. There's no issues for giving those answer for us. There is no private questions. It's all question about where you lived, where you was and few years and what was your jobs and this question. That's easy question. Pretty easy. In Afghanistan, we don't have these kind of things to do. Right now in the elections times we have in Afghanistan, the governments have changed and they don't have elections right now in there. And we are happy to be here and we are honoured here to having this kind of days."
The 2026 Census, for the first time, included questions around sexual orientation and gender.
With new additions to the survey welcomed, some say there is still room for improvement.
The 2026 Census includes questions about long-term health conditions, but does not provide separate options for autism or ADHD.
Dr Queenie Wu from MindSpace Consulting says identifying the conditions could help reduce stigma and encourage families to seek support earlier.
"By not including ADHD and autism in the census, we're missing a big opportunity to actually understand the whole picture, like who, where and how. So, who needs support, where they are, and how we can plan services."
Emily Walter says that while the ABS is in constant consultation about what should or shouldn't be included, they have to strike a balance.
"Leading into every census, we undertake a topic review or a public consultation on the topics that should be in the census. And through that process, we always receive a vast amount of feedback, far more than we can ever include in one census form. So we're really balancing all the time the data need and the ability to capture it well in a census, noting that the census questions are asked of every person in the country, with what we could possibly lose from the census to accommodate that question."
For the ABS, she says the work is far from over.
"The data that we're collecting now will be released in June next year, so June 2027. There are 66 questions on the form, but we create over 200 data variables from that. So, an incredible amount goes in now to pulling that data together in a way that can produce those data variables and that accurate data."
