Make it count on census night
The 2011 Census takes place across Australia on the evening of Tuesday, August 9.
From July 29, Census collectors will hit the streets to deliver 14.2 million Census forms to 9.8 million households. Census supervisors have been visiting all hotels, motels and short-term accommodation establishments across Australia to coordinate the delivery and collection of Census forms for those staying in these venues on Census night.
Those staying at caravan parks or campsites can collect Census Packs from special Census collectors at Tourist Information Centres or recognised truck stops on August 9.
Debate is growing in some sectors about the nature of questions on the Census form. Organisation Intersex International Australia has campaigned for some time for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to provide
options other than male or female as sex designators.
Earlier this year, the Atheist Foundation of Australia (AFA) erected billboards in Sydney and Melbourne urging Australians to mark 鈥楴o religion鈥� on their forms.
AFA president David Nicholls said he hoped the signs would help the public think about how they answered the question about religious affiliation.
鈥淭he question 鈥榃hat is the person鈥檚 religion?鈥� is a leading one and it could sway people to mark their religion of baptism or early youth and not their present stance, which may be devoid of any faith,鈥� Nicholls said.
鈥淭his can cause a distortion of Census statistics whereby religious people appear to be more numerous in society than they really are.鈥�
I’m marking NO RELIGION on my census because I don’t want homophobic groups like the ACL using inaccurate ABS figures claiming an over-inflated number of Aussies as being religious, to justify spending on their agenda.
[…] has begun unveiling billboards urging people to take the religion out of politics. …Make it count on census nightSydney Star ObserverShow you're a true non-believer in censusCourier Mailall 10 news […]