Appendix E Self-service in the 2021 Census

For the first time in an Australian Census, people were able to complete the 2021 Census without receiving a Census form or Census Instruction Letter delivered to their address. Anyone from across Australia with internet access could open the Census website, receive a Census Number and initiate a Census form by providing their address and a mobile phone number. This is referred to as the ‘No-Census Number’ option.  This was developed to improve user-experience, increase Census response and coverage and as a risk mitigation in the event of disruption to the delivery of materials by Australia Post or Census field staff.

The 2021 Census received 1.75 million requests for a Census Number which resulted in 1.45 million household forms being submitted online. This represents 19% of all household forms submitted online. These 1.45 million forms were submitted by approximately 1.3 million dwellings.

The introduction of the ‘No-Census Number’ option has had a positive impact on the quality of Census data. Improvements to the coverage of and response from the population are evident through increases in the number of dwellings added to the Census Frame. In the ‘Mail out’ areas where the Census frame was based on the ABS Address Register, an additional approximately 150,000 dwellings were included. This represents 1.6% of all private dwellings in these areas. The majority of these dwellings were originally not included because they were unverified addresses or under construction at the time of frame creation.

Improvements in data quality have also occurred through this option by people staying in non-private dwellings, travelling or in hard to reach locations. Most persons staying in non-private dwellings on Census night responded using the Census form provided to the establishment by a Census field officer. However, approximately 57,000 persons or 8% of all persons counted in non-private dwellings used the option (see Table E.1). The non-private dwelling type that returned the most forms from this option was hotel/motels which is also the largest type of non-private dwelling. However, the type of non-private dwelling that had the highest proportion of persons use the option was in residential colleges and halls of residence where approximately 21% of all persons counted used this option.

While dwellings in Private Dwelling Establishments such as Caravan Parks and Retirement Villages also largely responded using the materials provided by a Census field officer, approximately 26,000 forms were received via the option. This was highest in Caravan Parks and Marinas, where 19% and 38% of all forms received used the No-Census Number option (see Table E.2).

The No-Census Number option enabled households to respond without receiving a Census form. It also enabled individuals to respond separately to other people in their household. In this Census, approximately 100,000 household forms were merged with another form from the dwelling. This is largely due to use of the No-Census Number option and is expected to have contributed to improved coverage of the population. The ease of access to the option also introduced greater duplication of responses. While these have been largely removed in the processing of Census data, it is possible that a small amount of unidentified duplication remains.