ROWLAND
The Federal Minister charged with responsibility for the Census is Michael McCormack and he joins us now. Michael McCormack, good morning.
McCORMACK
Good morning Michael.
ROWLAND
Are you more nervous about tonight than you are about election nights?
McCORMACK
Oh, no. I think tonight is rather an exciting night. It’s a snapshot of Australia for a better future for the nation.
ROWLAND
What sort of example are the likes of Nick Xenophon, Scott Ludlam and Sarah Hanson-Young setting by saying they won’t fill out the forms with their names there, and therefore explicitly breaking the law?
McCORMACK
Look, there are legitimate penalties in place for those people who wilfully obstruct the Census. And the process of the Census is important because it enables Governments of all persuasions – Federal, State and Local – to be able to set an agenda; to be able to resource and fund communities right across the nation – remote, regional, capital city. And it’s an important, absolutely critical, part of being able to set those agendas and that funding process and I would urge all Parliamentarians to get on board. This has bi-partisan support, always had had in the past, and I would urge all Parliamentarians to talk it up; to promote it.
ROWLAND
Will you ensure those Senators are prosecuted? Or heavily fined, at the very least?
McCORMACK
Well, that’s up to the ABS but there are legitimate penalties in place for those who deliberately or wilfully obstruct and don’t provide the information the Census needs. As Professor Fiona Stanley only said this morning – the child health expert – we need this information. The ABS requires this information to be able to properly set the funding processes in place for all sorts of health needs, all sorts of education needs. This is a critical document. This is the 17th Census tonight, it’s been held since 1911. Ten million homes, 24 million Australians, will get on board. And look, in the last Census – held in 2011 – 98.2 per cent of were happy to go along with everything the Census has in place. Sure, the information is being kept for longer – from 18 months to four years – but that will enable..
ROWLAND
… Sorry for interrupting. Why longer? And this goes to the privacy concerns people like Nick Xenophon have. Why does the ABS need to hold on to our private information for so long?
McCORMACK
Well, the ABS says that will enable them to track population flows and to also look at life expectancy trends for longer. And so, the ABS has an impeccable record when it comes to privacy and security. Courts can’t access the information, Ministers can’t, indeed the Prime Minister can’t, so they have an impeccable record when it comes to the Census and privacy concerns. So I would urge everybody to get on board tonight – it takes about 20 to 25 minutes to fill out – and it’s an important snapshot of the nation tonight, but enabling Governments of all persuasions to properly resource the nation into the future.
ROWLAND
So, Minister, when I sit down to do mine tonight, I will have my digital code and like most other Australians I will fill out my name…
McCORMACK
Thank you.
ROWLAND
… Thanks very much! This personal code which can then be data matched with other survey results down the track, a lot of people are very wary about that, your name being potentially identifiable via this barcode – call it what you will – in the years ahead.
McCORMACK
But only ABS staff have access to any of the information and it’s for four years. Names and addresses have always been supplied. In the previous 16 Censuses they have always been supplied and, really, if you look at the Census – and I am sure when you go through it tonight, Michael – you will see that the questions are reasonably mundane. Sure, names and addresses have to be supplied, but the information certainly enables business to be able to show trends because they get the raw data.
ROWLAND
Sorry for interrupting. Do you mean names, addresses and other personal details? Will ones without names be sufficient?
McCORMACK
The ABS needs that information to track life expectancy and population flows.
ROWLAND
Yeah, that’s trends. But why do you need individual names?
McCORMACK
Well, the ABS needs the information so they can track that. Look, they certainly separate names and addresses and, certainly, information that they do collect. It is only able to be accessed by ABS staff. They have an impeccable record. It’s an important snapshot of the nation. I can’t reiterate that enough. It is an important snapshot of the nation which enables Governments of all persuasions. And, look, this has bi-partisan support. At the 2011 Census, the Minister in charge was Bill Shorten. He talked it up. I’m talking it up. It’s an important snapshot of the nation and I am looking forward to most Australians – if not all Australians, including all our Parliamentarians – getting on board, filling it out and getting it in.
And I also need to insist and assure people that they have until September 18 to get in their paper forms and they also have until September 23 to get in their online forms. And, look, there will only be fines imposed on those who wilfully obstruct the process. So, for anybody who does it in the right spirit, fills the Census out and makes every effort to get it back in, there will be no penalties imposed.
ROWLAND
Ok, and I wanted to give you time to explain – and I get what you say about the trends – but you still haven’t answered my question. Why does the ABS need our names?
McCORMACK
Well, the ABS needs the names to make sure, for a start, they have everybody on board with the process.
ROWLAND
Wouldn’t addresses and other factors be enough for that?
McCORMACK
Well, they are able to track life expectancy trends.
ROWLAND
Which they can get from your date of birth.
McCORMACK
They have always collected it. For 18 months in the past, four years now and they will destroy the information.
ROWLAND
Ok, that’s for past Censuses. But for this Census, it is a particular issue, people’s names being put on the forms.
McCORMACK
And it doesn’t need to be, Michael. It really doesn’t need to be. It has always been collected in the past. Names and addresses have always been collected. And that’s the same this time. I am sure when the Census is next conducted in 2021 it will be the case again. That information is required so we know people have filled it out. It is required so the ABS can provide more dynamic data so they can do the job and provide businesses, provide academics and universities, health experts, indeed education and as well as State, Local and Federal Governments, with the information – with the raw data it needs – to be able to properly resource the nation.
ROWLAND
Ok, just finally. I want to get back to what you said about “wilful obstruction” – is that what these three Senators are doing?
McCORMACK
That will be a matter for the ABS. I would like to think that, certainly Senators Xenophon and Sarah Hanson-Young and Ludlam can get on board. You know, they want their States – South Australia and WA – properly resourced too and they need to be able to fill that information in and encourage others to do the same.
ROWLAND
Michael McCormack in Canberra, thank you. Have a good morning.
McCORMACK
Thank you Michael.