Those of you who are children of the 80s will remember the Simple Minds hit, ‘Don’t you forget about me’, a song made extra famous by the film, the Breakfast Club.
On Tuesday August 10, 2021, the Australian Census will be conducted. Please don’t forget to ‘fill it in’. Hopefully, you have already received your log-in details to complete the form electronically.
The value of the Census is immense to those planning for services and making investments in the both the public and private sector. It provides great continuity of data (every five years since 1961) and is really the only definitive data source in terms of population. In these times of COVID-19, we must realise the value of good quality information and the need to use of the finite resources of Government in the best possible way. The information is available in a flexible way, allowing analysis at local, suburban, regional and State levels.
Some of the information gathered is personal, but your data will always be aggregated into something bigger. I often think about how much data we ‘donate’ to the social media websites. We really are a very generous lot.
Having worked in the public and private sector analysing and forecasting these data, I know how many decisions are made on the basis of the results. I encourage you all to see the Census as a way of ensuring more decisions are evidence-based. We look forward to the results emerging in 2022.
Census2021: Don’t you forget about me?
