Tonight, Tuesday, August 11, is Census Night across Australia — and in Moree Plains, every completed form matters.
The Census is held every five years. It helps build a detailed picture of who lives in Australia, where we live and how our communities are changing.
That information can help governments and organisations plan things such as health care, schools, transport, infrastructure and community services.
But being counted is only part of the story.
In the 2021 Census, Moree Plains had high levels of “not stated” answers for several important questions.
For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status, 19.9 per cent of responses were recorded as not stated, compared with 4.8 per cent across NSW.
The rate was 21.4 per cent for work status, 23.5 per cent for long-term health conditions, 21.6 per cent for religion and 21 per cent for Defence Force service.
For several of those questions, the Moree Plains rate was about four times the NSW rate.
That does not mean one in five people in Moree Plains was missed by the Census.
Laura Eadie, from the University of Newcastle’s Institute for Regional Futures, said the overall population count could still be quite reliable even when some other information was missing.
“A ‘not stated’ response does not necessarily mean a person was missed from the Census,” Ms Eadie said.
“In many cases, it means a person was counted but information for a particular question was not provided or could not be determined during processing.”
The problem is that missing answers make it harder to understand the community behind the population figure.
Ms Eadie said missing or incomplete answers could reduce confidence in the information used to plan services, infrastructure and community support programs.
That matters in a regional area like Moree Plains, where good local information can help show who lives here and what the community needs.
Ms Eadie said complete and accurate Census information was also important for Aboriginal communities when looking at local needs and planning for the future.
Her message for tonight is simple.
“The best way to improve data quality is for as many people as possible to participate and complete the Census fully and accurately,” she said.
So tonight, don’t just make sure you are counted.
Answer the questions as fully and accurately as you can.
And if you know someone who may have trouble completing the Census, check in with them.
Moree Online News has also put together a simple guide explaining how to complete the Census and where to get help.
READ: No Census form? Here is how to make sure you are counted
