AUSTRALIA
The 2016 Census counted 23,397,296 usual residents of Australia, who were in the country on Census night (including 1,183,519 persons who were imputed into non-responding dwellings). This was 226,407 persons fewer than the PES estimate of the usual resident population who were present in Australia on Census night. This equates to a net undercount rate of 1.0%.
The net undercount rate is lower in 2016 compared with 2011 (1.7%). The 2016 estimate continues the historical trend of almost complete coverage in Australian Census counts.
Net Undercount Rate, Australia, 1971-2016 |
|
 | 1971 | 1976 | 1981 | 1986 | 1991 | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|
| Net undercount | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| Standard Error (SE) | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
|
It is important to note that the PES is designed to provide the best measure of Census coverage at a single point in time rather than as a time series. PES estimates of net undercount are not strictly comparable over time due to changes in both Census and PES methodologies. For example:
- a new estimation process was introduced in the 2006 PES, along with the inclusion of remote areas and Discrete Communities in the PES sample
- automated data linking between PES and Census person records was introduced in 2011
- the 2016 Census underwent a number of changes to its collection methodology, with some changes to PES enumeration procedures as a result.
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