NO CENSUS RECORD

There are a number of reasons a person may not have completed or been enumerated on a Census form. The common reasons include:

• they were travelling and were difficult to contact
• they mistakenly thought they were counted elsewhere
• there was insufficient space on the Census form in the household where they were staying and they did not obtain additional forms
• the person completing the form thought that certain people, for example, young babies, the elderly or visitors, need not be included
• they did not wish to be included due to concerns about confidentiality or a more general reluctance to participate the dwelling in which they were located was missed because it was difficult to find (e.g. in a remote or non-residential area)
• the dwelling in which they were located was mistakenly classed as unoccupied.

Some of these reasons may be more applicable than others for people who were alive at the time of the Census but subsequently died in the ensuing year. In a small number of cases, the absence of a Census form could be the result of the person being overseas at the time of the Census but subsequently dying in Australia and the death registered during the linkage reference period.

Rolling enumeration procedures for Census in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities may have increased the likelihood of an equivalent Census record not existing for deaths occurring around the time of the Census. Rolling enumeration involves conducting the Census over an extended period of four weeks. In these instances it is possible that a resident who moved may have been missed and therefore a corresponding Census record would not exist, or they may have passed away after Census Night (9 August 2011) but before Census enumeration was conducted in their residential area.

The pattern of linkage by month of death indicates that people who are close to death may well be missed, perhaps due to illness, or included in summary forms only on the Census. The months that contained the highest rate of unlinked records were those closest to Census Night: August (10%) and September (8%).

Specially targeted linkages based only on address matching identified a small number of instances where a potential link to the death registration was found either on a Census summary form or on a Census household form but listed as a ‘person temporarily absent’ (PTA). A confirmed link could not be assigned in these instances, however, since insufficient personal information was available.

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