The census is the only survey in New Zealand that covers all of the population.
By law, every person in New Zealand on census day must complete an Individual Form for the census or have one filled in for them. This includes children and babies.
Even people who are visiting New Zealand must fill in a census form – although they only have to answer the first 12 questions and sign on the back page.
Someone in your household must also complete a Dwelling Form.
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Compulsory for Everyone
By law, everyone present in New Zealand on census day must be included in the census. Section 43 of the Statistics Act 1975 states clearly that an Individual Form must be completed for every person and a Dwelling Form must be completed for every occupied dwelling.
The reason for making the census compulsory is simple. It is the only way we can be sure that information about the total population has been obtained and we have an accurate overview of New Zealand society every five years.
The census is the key source of information about the people living in our cities, towns, suburbs and rural communities. As everyone takes part, we can get a full picture of what’s really happening in our country.
If the census was voluntary, we would never know whether those who filled in the census forms were truly representative of the population or not. The statistics produced would be very unreliable.
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Wherever you are
In the census everyone is counted where they are actually staying on census night and only people staying within New Zealand on census night are counted.
If you were in New Zealand but away from home on census night, you will have been asked to take part at that location.
Dwellings that were unoccupied on census night did not need to have a Dwelling Form completed for them. They were counted by the collector as unoccupied.