The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is reminding parents and carers to include all children in their care on Census night (10 August) on the household form.
Census Executive at the ABS, Averil Templar said data from the 2016 Census showed one in 20 children aged zero to four were not included on Census forms that year.
“That’s 5.1 per cent of kids in Australia on Census night missing from the household form at the place they were staying,” Ms Templar said.
“Welcoming a baby into the world is a very exciting time for parents and to help them get the best start to life, we’re reminding families across Australia about the significance of counting their newborns this Census,” she said.
Ms Templar said Census data was used to help plan services, including things like where a playgroup would be beneficial to local families.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Census at ABS, Andrew Henderson welcomed the early submission of Census forms with 2,388,009 forms received as of 8am on Monday (9 August).
Mr Henderson said the tally was based on forms submitted online through the Census Digital Service (2,347,798) and paper forms received by the ABS (40,211).
He said the tally of forms submitted by households did not directly translate to a response rate, which was the proportion of the Australian population that had completed the Census.
“The response rate, which is the official completion measure for the Census, will be determined after all forms have been submitted and quality checked,” Mr Henderson said.
