Today the report of the MacGibbon Review into the events surrounding the 2016 eCensus was tabled in the Parliament.
The review was commissioned by the Prime Minister and the Government has accepted all the recommendations of the report.
Statements from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and IBM following the Census indicate there are lessons to be learned and that improvements are necessary.
IBM has apologised to the Government and the Australian public for the outage on Census night. The Government has reached a commercial-in-confidence settlement with IBM on this matter.
While there are lessons to be learned, more than 96 per cent of Australian households completed their Census – which is on a par with the 2011 Census and greater than the 2006 Census. A record 58 per cent of Australians completed their 2016 Census online.
The Census data gives Governments at all levels the data and information necessary for future infrastructure and service planning. It will also provide a vital snapshot into a range of socio-economic issues in Australia, particularly in remote and Indigenous communities.
I would like to again thank Australians for completing their Census and playing their part in shaping our country’s future.