Australian Census 2006

Australian Census 2006

The Australian Census 2006 (of Population and Housing) was conducted on August 8^th, 2006 and provided a snapshot of the population on that day.

The Census is always conducted on a Tuesday night in winter, outside school holidays to maximise the number of people likely to be at home. All people staying in Australia on that night, excluding diplomats and their families, were required to complete a Census form.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is responsible for conducting the Australian Census. In 2006 a team of approximately 40,000 people worked in the field on the Census. The majority of these are Census Collectors, who are responsible for ensuring that all households within their designated area are delivered a Census form prior to Census night and have it collected soon after. Special teams worked in remote areas, large hotels and hospitals, offshore shipping, overnight trains and buses and outback travellers to ensure maximum coverage.

The 2006 Census form asked a range of questions, many of which have been asked in all recent census years, such as age, marital status, ethnicity, language, religion, income, tenure, housing costs, education, and employment. 2006 also saw the inclusion of a number of new questions, designed to measure the impact of the unpaid work sector in the economy, such as questions on volunteering, unpaid childcare, care for the aged and disabled and domestic work. Another set of questions related to disability, and asked whether respondents needed assistance with core daily activities. While Census does not ask about people’s sexual orientation, changes were made to the way data were processed to make it easier for respondents to identify as same-sex couples.

The Australian Census 2006 was the first where households were given the option of filling in the Census form online. The eCensus was available to all private households, and though not as widely publicised as in 2011, approximately 9% of all households chose to fill in their form electronically.

An interpreter phone service was available in many different languages to assist recently arrived migrants and people with English language difficulties to fill in their Census form.

2006 Census data and results were released progressively through 2007 and early 2008, and were available soon after this in all of .id’s online information tools for Local Government.

2006 Census data are available at a range of geographic levels, from the smallest, Census Collection Districts, being the areas covered by a single Census Collector, usually only a few street blocks in size, through Statistical Local Areas, Local Government Areas, Statistical Divisions and States.

.id has written a range of interesting blogs using to the results from the Australian Census 2006 including topics related to the gay population, religion (and "Jedi"), etc. You may wish to visit our blog here to find out more.