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Has this submission been prepared in collaboration with any other individual(s) or organisation(s)?
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Potential removal - Number of children ever born
Do you currently use Number of children ever born data from the Census? (Select one)
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Potential removal - Number of motor vehicles
Do you currently use Number of motor vehicles data from the Census? (Select one)
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Would the alternative data source listed further above meet your data needs if this topic was removed from the 2026 Census? (Select one)
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Please explain why.
It is absolutely essential for my advocacy work around urban planning and transport reform to be able to 1) generate crosstabs with motor vehicle ownership and other Census variables (e.g. number of persons resident in dwelling, number of bedrooms in dwelling, household income) and 2) obtain this vehicle ownership data down to SA1 granularity and across all other ASGS geographical classifications.
As far as I am aware, BITRE and state/territory sources don't provide this (at least not in a way easily accessible to the public), and as such the removal of this question would be a huge loss of valuable information.
Another issue with vehicle registration data is that registrations are often not reflective of the actual garaging location of the vehicle. For example, anecdotally I find it's relatively common within many families for a child who has moved away from home (e.g. for study) to take a family vehicle with them while keeping the registration in the name of, and at the address of, the parents. As an ACT resident, I note that it is common among interstate migrants in Canberra to keep vehicles registered in their previous jurisdiction for a number of years after migrating in order to avoid the costs involved with obtaining a vehicle inspection and re-registering the vehicle - there is typically little benefit in transferring registration promptly, and enforcement of registration requirements is very lax. While better access to more detailed administrative data would be very helpful, I still see significant value in obtaining a Census snapshot of vehicle usage to address some of these deficiencies in the data.
As far as I am aware, BITRE and state/territory sources don't provide this (at least not in a way easily accessible to the public), and as such the removal of this question would be a huge loss of valuable information.
Another issue with vehicle registration data is that registrations are often not reflective of the actual garaging location of the vehicle. For example, anecdotally I find it's relatively common within many families for a child who has moved away from home (e.g. for study) to take a family vehicle with them while keeping the registration in the name of, and at the address of, the parents. As an ACT resident, I note that it is common among interstate migrants in Canberra to keep vehicles registered in their previous jurisdiction for a number of years after migrating in order to avoid the costs involved with obtaining a vehicle inspection and re-registering the vehicle - there is typically little benefit in transferring registration promptly, and enforcement of registration requirements is very lax. While better access to more detailed administrative data would be very helpful, I still see significant value in obtaining a Census snapshot of vehicle usage to address some of these deficiencies in the data.
Describe the expected impact for you or your organisation if this topic was removed from the 2026 Census.
Please provide a detailed explanation of what you cannot do without the Census data.
I wouldn't be able to have an effective picture of how car ownership rates vary across different suburbs/districts/cities, or the socioeconomic implications of private vehicle transport versus other modes. This would significantly harm my ability to use accurate analysis in the various submissions I make to state/territory and federal government organisations on planning and transport issues. In particular, the spatial distribution of cars in residential areas is highly relevant to parking policy, which has important flow-on impacts on land use planning and transport planning and is a topic of active interest to the community broadly and to local government/planning professionals and advocates in particular.
Do you have any further information on the Number of motor vehicles topic to inform our assessment?
Text box provided for further information on Number of motor vehicles
I used this variable just yesterday to generate statistics for a parliamentary submission I'm currently working on, looking at how transport options impact homeowners compared to renters.
I've been speaking to others who are involved with planning and transport advocacy who are also concerned about the proposed removal.
I've been speaking to others who are involved with planning and transport advocacy who are also concerned about the proposed removal.
Potential removal - Unpaid work - domestic activities
Do you currently use Unpaid work - domestic activities data from the Census? (Select one)
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Would the alternative data sources listed further above meet your data needs if this topic was removed from the 2026 Census? (Select one)
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Potential removal and potential changes - Work topics
Do you currently use Incorporation status (owner manager) data from the Census? (Select one)
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Would the alternative data sources listed further above meet your data needs if Incorporation status (owner manager) was removed from the 2026 Census? (Select one)
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Do you currently use Number of employees (employed by owner manager) data from the Census? (Select one)
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Would the alternative data sources listed further above meet your data needs if Number of employees (employed by owner managers) was removed from the 2026 Census? (Select one)
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Potential changes - Ancestry and Ethnic identity
Do you currently use Ancestry data from the Census? (Select one)
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If yes, please explain how you use this data.
Personal interest. Also can be helpful in planning and transport advocacy work to identify areas with strong multicultural communities, although I don't presently use the data for that purpose.
To what extent does this data currently meet your needs? (Select one)
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Do not have a need for the data
Please provide a detailed explanation why the data does or does not meet your needs.
No-one quite knows what "Australian" ancestry means.
Describe the expected impact for you or your organisation if the Census collected up to four ancestries.
Please consider both the positives and negatives, if applicable, when responding to this question.
I'd be able to tick a couple more boxes - currently I choose "Australian" and "Chinese", but perhaps I could indicate my European ancestral background in more detail.
Is there benefit in collecting Ethnic identity in addition to Ancestry data in the Census? (Select one)
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If the Census were to collect Ethnic identity data, should more than one ethnicity be collected? (Select one)
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Do you have any further information on the Ancestry and/or Ethnic identity topics to inform our assessment?
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As an Australian of mixed (English, Irish, Chinese-Malaysian) ethnic and ancestral background, I appreciate that the ABS is considering expanding ancestry and ethnicity options, however it is a very complex question and the extraordinarily diverse nature of the Australian population makes it difficult to balance competing needs in collecting this data.
Potential changes - Language
Do you currently use Language used at home data from the Census? (Select one)
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To what extent does this data currently meet your needs? (Select one)
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Do not have a need for the data
If the Census were to collect data on multiple languages used, would there be a need to understand which of these languages is the main language used? (Select one)
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Yes
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No
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Don't know
Potential changes - Religious affiliation
Do you currently use Religious affiliation data from the Census? (Select one)
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Yes
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No
To what extent does this data currently meet your needs? (Select one)
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Do not have a need for the data
Please provide a detailed explanation why the data does or does not meet your needs.
As a church member, I find the religious affiliation data tends to reflect broad cultural affiliations rather than other factors such as membership of a church, attendance at services, etc. This is still quite useful to track, as it indicates changes to attitudes around religion in society, but must be supplemented by data from private surveys such as the National Church Life Survey.
Describe the expected impact for you or your organisation if the Census collected Religious affiliation through a two-part question.
Please consider both the positives and negatives, if applicable, when responding to this question.
Positives - would likely provide data that is more aligned with people who are practising members of churches or other religious organisations. Negatives - would lose some visibility into the broader cultural affiliations that have traditionally been measured by the existing question.
Additional feedback
Would you like to provide any feedback on the other proposed new topics for the 2026 Census? (Select all that apply)
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity
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Additional measure of disability
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Dwelling occupancy status
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Gender
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Household energy use
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Impact of natural disasters
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Journey to education (Mode of travel to educational institution and Name and address of educational institution)
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Main reason for moving in last 12 months
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Sexual orientation
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Shared care of children
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Variations of sex characteristics
You do not need to provide information that has already been included in a submission during phase one.
Dwelling occupancy status is critically important for getting an accurate picture of residential vacancy rates.
Mode of travel to educational institution is useful data for transport planning and analysis.
Mode of travel to educational institution is useful data for transport planning and analysis.
Would you like to provide any feedback on the other proposed changes to existing topics for the 2026 Census? (Select all that apply)
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Attendance at an educational institution
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Country of birth of parents
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Hours worked
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Household and family relationships
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Income
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Long-term health conditions
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Marital status
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Mode of travel to work
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Persons temporarily absent on Census Night
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Proficiency in spoken English
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Sex
You do not need to provide information that has already been included in a submission during phase one.
Income - I like the thinking behind switching this to administrative data, but I'm highly concerned that this transition will result in data quality issues that we're not aware of yet. Please try not to stuff it up!