Census basic microdata consultation Collection Notice

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking insights from users on the Census basic microdata product available through MicrodataDownload. 

The feedback survey is open between 1 July 2024 and 31 July 2024.

The ABS will use the outcomes of this survey to inform changes and improvements to the 2026 Census microdata products. 

This Collection Notice explains the collection and use of personal information as part of the survey through the ABS Consultation Hub (Citizen Space).

Your personal information is being collected by the ABS and ABS’s technology service provider for the feedback survey, Delib.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business provides details about how we (the ABS) manage and protect your personal information.

As part of making a submission, you may provide your personal information to the ABS through our Consultation Hub. The Privacy Notice for the Consultation Hub explains how we use Delib and its technology (Citizen Space). We (the ABS) manage the website and Delib provides the technology behind this service and its operation. Delib’s Privacy Notice explains how Delib will collect, safeguard, and process your data on behalf of the ABS.

As part of a submission to this survey, the ABS will collect and hold the following information. It is optional when making a submission to provide:

• Contact name (first name only)
• Contact email address
• Category that best describes the organisation you represent
• Job position or title
• Responses to survey questions

The ABS will use your submission to inform changes and updates to the 2026 Census microdata products. 

Your submission will not be published. We may publish a summary of findings based on submissions received on the ABS Consultation Hub.

If you consent to being contacted about this consultation, we may use your name, and email address to contact you. If you consent to receiving email updates on the outcome of the survey, we will use the email address you provide to send these updates to you.

We comply with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Archives Act 1983 in the storage, use and destruction of your personal information collected.

When personal information is collected as part of the Census data feedback survey, it is stored in secure data centres in Australia.

The hosting provider for Delib (AWS) meets all Australian Government privacy and data storage requirements.

The ABS will extract a copy of your submission from the Consultation Hub and store this in the secure ABS environment. 

Where you have consented to further contact by providing your details, your email address will be stored in the secure ABS environment for the purpose of sending you updates on the outcome of the survey and follow up questions on your submission. We will remove your contact details (name, email address and any other identifying information) from the submission after the consultation project (December 2025) and store a de-identified version of your submission in the secure ABS environment for record keeping purposes.

Your submission will be deleted from Delib data stores by August 2024. 

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business provides further information about how we manage and protect your personal information.

As the technology service provider, Delib will only access your personal information when requested to do so by the ABS and only for the purposes of assisting with the administration of the site.

Except for Delib in their data processing role, the ABS will not:

• share information in a way that would identify you or your organisation(s) without your consent
• share information with private organisations, such as direct marketing companies
• share information with other government agencies for compliance or regulation activities.

If you have identified you have provided a submission on behalf of an organisation, the ABS may share the information in your submission to an alternative contact within your organisation if there is a legitimate reason to do so.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business provides more information about how we handle your personal information.

A submission cannot be edited in the Consultation Hub once it has been submitted. If the survey is still open, you can provide a new submission. Please contact census.data@abs.gov.au:

• to request removal of your original submission 
• if you need to access or correct your personal information.

You can revoke your consent to receive email updates by emailing census.data@abs.gov.au.

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business has information about how you can make a complaint if you feel we have not adequately protected your privacy. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response.

You can contact the ABS Privacy Officer (details below) who will respond to enquiries or assist with complaints.

By email: privacy@abs.gov.au

By post: ABS Privacy Officer

Australian Bureau of Statistics

Locked Bag 10, Belconnen ACT 2617