Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Every five years, the ABS counts every person and household in Australia. This is called the Census of Population and Housing. The next Census will be held in August 2026. 

See about the Census to find out more.

The Census is a snapshot of Australia and tells the story of how we're changing. It’s used to estimate Australia’s population, distribute government funds, and plan services for individuals, families and communities.

The Census asks questions about your age, country of birth, cultural background, living situation, work and education.

See about the Census to find out more about why the Census is important.

Before each Census, it’s important to test how we'll run it. The Census Test helps ensure our processes work well and that the form captures the right information, in the right way.

Find out more information about the Census Test.

Census Test night was Tuesday 5 August 2025, and there is still time to complete.

The Census Test is voluntary. It’s important that everyone selected participates to ensure it reflects a broad cross-section of people and communities in Australia. 

Your participation will help us improve the Census process so our next Census in 2026 is easier to complete and produces high quality statistics.

Census Test night was Tuesday 5 August 2025, and there is still time to complete. We ask that you complete the Census Test as soon as possible.

Although the Census Test is voluntary it’s important that everyone who is asked to participate in the Census Test takes part. This will ensure that it reflects a broad cross-section of the community.  

Your participation and feedback will help us to improve the 2026 Census and ensure it’s easy for people to participate, cheaper to run, and produces quality data.  

Find more information about doing the Census Test. 

Yes, even though the Census Test is voluntary, it’s important that everyone who is asked to participate in the Census Test takes part. This will ensure that it reflects a broad cross-section of the community.  

Households that don’t respond may be contacted.

Your participation and feedback will help us to improve the 2026 Census and ensure it’s easy for people to participate, cheaper to run, and produces high quality statistics.  

Around 60,000 selected households across Australia got instructions in the mail to complete the Census Test. We selected Census Test areas using past Census data to ensure we cover the diversity of Australia. 

Not all households in each area were asked to participate in the Census Test. If you live in the selected areas and didn’t receive a letter or form from the ABS, there's nothing you need to do.

If you want to fill in your Census Test separately from your household, you can get a Census number to complete online or request a paper form by calling the Census Contact Centre on 1800 181 227.

See doing the Census Test and privacy and security for more information.

You can find information on questions asked in the Census Test, including how to answer the Census Test questions, why we ask each of the questions, and how they help families and communities.

It takes the average household 30 minutes to complete the Census Test form. If you have a larger household, it may take longer. 

You don’t have to finish the Census Test in one go. If you are completing online, you can save your form and return later using your password.

If you're using a paper form and need to take a break, make sure you store your form somewhere safe until you can complete it.

Census field staff may contact households when dropping off Census Test forms or when conducting reminder visits. They can answer your questions and are identifiable by their ABS identification card and yellow satchel.

In addition, in-person help will be available at selected locations where you can get help to complete your form and ask any questions about the Census.

For more information, see get help near you. 

Census Test night was on Tuesday 5 August 2025, and there is still time to complete.

We’ll follow up with the selected households in test areas that haven’t completed a form. This includes second homes, investment properties and holiday houses.

If your property was empty on Census Test night, please let us know.

Unused Census Test letters and envelopes can be recycled.

The Census Test is voluntary. However, it’s important that everyone who is asked to participate in the Census Test takes part to ensure we have a broad cross-section of the community.

If you haven’t completed your Census Test form, you can complete it online or request a paper form. 

Your participation and feedback will help us to improve the 2026 Census and ensure it’s both easy for people to participate and that it produces quality statistics.

Not everyone in the test areas is asked to participate. If you didn’t get anything from us, you don’t need to do anything.

Census staff can be identified by the following items:

• Census or Australian Bureau of Statistics identification card
• All Census field staff (those who are contacting households) carry a yellow satchel.

If you’ve subscribed to Census Test updates through myGov and:

• you have an issue signing in to myGov or any other myGov related questions, please contact the myGov Help Desk
• you have a question about the Census Test or the online form, please contact us.

The Census Test online form will close Tuesday 2 September 2025.

You can send back your completed paper form until 16 September 2025.

The Census Contact Centre will also close on Tuesday 16 September 2025.

If you haven’t submitted your Test form by Friday 8 August 2025 you may get a reminder letter and a visit from Census field staff.

For households that got the Census Test in paper form, it’s important that you put it in the post using the Reply Paid envelope that was supplied with your form. 

Information on where to find a post box in your local area can be found on the Australia Post website. 

Find more information about doing the Census Test. 

You can contact us if you have questions about the Census Test. 

There may be a slight delay between when you submit your form, and it appears in our system. This means some households may get a letter, myGov Inbox message or a visit from Census staff after they’ve completed. 

There's nothing else you need to do if you've already submitted your form.

If you completed the Census Test online, you should get a receipt number by SMS or email.

If you keep getting contacted by the ABS or continue to receive letters after submitting the form, please contact the ABS via the General Enquiries form.

After the Census Test the ABS reflects on the feedback, processes and quality of the data collected.

This way we can refine our processes and ensure that the 2026 Census is easy to complete and collects the right information.

The data collected from the Census Test will not be released. All personal information collected from the Census Test will be deleted before the Census in August 2026.

Selected households within the Census Test locations will be contacted by ABS staff for a Post Census Review. The review will help confirm the accuracy and quality of key information collected within the Census Test. The Post Census Review Survey usually takes less than ten minutes for most households to complete. It's conducted by an interviewer either over the phone or in person. 

We're testing our paper and online forms as part of the Census Test. If you got a paper form, we would appreciate you completing this form even if you would normally go online.  This will help us make improvements for the 2026 Census.

If you got a paper form but would prefer to complete the Census Test online, go to census.abs.gov.au, select ‘Continue to Census form’ and enter the Census number provided on your paper form.

Find more information about doing the Census Test.

Your Census Test number and temporary password need to be entered as they appear on your letter or form. 

Remember that passwords are case sensitive. Check that each character is capital (e.g. A) or lower case (e.g. a) as it appears on your Census Test letter or form.

Sometimes the first letter can be automatically changed to upper case. For more tips on logging in, go to doing the Census Test.

If you've already started your Census Test online form and have set your own password, you can login and resume your form.

To resume, go to census.abs.gov.au, select ‘Continue to Census form’ and log in with your Census number and password.

If you've forgotten your password and have a recovery option, you can reset your password.

If you've forgotten your password and don't have a recovery option, or have forgotten your Census number, you cannot reset your password. You can start a new form to do your Census Test.

If you’re having trouble submitting your Census online form, and you get the following message: 'Please complete missing information for [person name]', please click on the missing information message as it's a link. This will take you to the page to complete the missing information.

If you're still having trouble with this message, please contact us.

To complete the Census Test, you'll need your Census number. A 16-digit Census number can be found in your Census letter, or on the front of a paper Census form.

If you don’t have a Census number, go to census.abs.gov.au, select ‘Continue to Census form’ and then ‘Get a Census number’. You’ll need to use a mobile phone to complete this process. 

You can save and exit the Census form at any time. You'll need your Census number and password to resume your form. We recommend that you keep your password somewhere safe.

Not all households in each area will be asked to participate in the Census Test. If you live in the selected areas and didn’t receive a letter or form from the ABS, there's nothing you need to do.

This message appears when our system identifies your WIFI or internet network as being used to complete multiple Census forms. This may be because you share an internet network with others in your building or accommodation.

Please either:

• connect to a different WIFI or internet network
• change to your mobile data connection.

Please use a different device or connect to a different WIFI or internet network.

You can also try selecting 'save' and 'log out'. Then reopen your internet browser and log back in. Please remember the password you set.

The online Census Test form is set to time out after 30 minutes of no activity.

You'll get a warning 5 minutes before the form will time out, after that you'll need to log in again.

Our website works with most modern devices. We use a responsive design that should adjust to fit the size of most smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.

For the best experience when completing the Census Test online or using our Census online services, please see our supported browsers.

Please see help doing your Census Test for help setting up your password. 

The Census Test online form uses a two-factor verification process by sending you a one-time PIN (OTP). Your OTP can be sent to your mobile number or email address.

For information about getting an OTP, see help doing your Census Test.

Please check your email address is correct, and check your junk or spam folder in case the OTP ended up there.

If it is correct, your email security settings might be stopping you from getting your OTP. We recommend getting your OTP sent to your mobile instead.

If you don't have a mobile phone, you can contact us to request a paper form.

If you've forgotten your password and have a recovery option, you can reset your password.

If you've forgotten your password and don't have a recovery option, or have forgotten your Census number, you cannot reset your password. You can start a new Census Test form.

You’ll get a receipt number by SMS from the ABS or email from no.reply@census.abs.gov.au. You don't need to provide this to us. 

If you completed through myGov, you’ll get a receipt number sent to your myGov Inbox.

Please use black or blue pen to complete the paper form, so our scanning machines can read the responses clearly. 

Please use CAPITAL letters and only use one letter per box.

Check the front page of your paper form to see how to fix mistakes.

If it's a written response, draw a line through the wrong answer and write the correct answer underneath.

If you've selected the wrong answer on a multiple-choice question, put a diagonal line through the wrong box and mark the correct answer.

The Census form is an official document. Signing it means you believe the answers are correct and complete. 

Only one person needs to sign the household paper form. This is usually whoever filled out ‘Person 1’.

No records of signatures are kept once the form is processed.

You’re encouraged to complete your form using the instructions you're given. If you've been asked to complete the Census Test online but would prefer to use a paper form, you can request one.

If you've ordered a paper form, they're still being delivered. Please complete your Census Test as soon as your form arrives. Don’t worry if it’s after Census Test night.

There's no need to go into a post office to return the form. Paying for postage is not required.

You can send your Census Test form back in the Reply Paid envelope provided. Our Census Contact Centre team can send another Reply Paid envelope to you if needed. 

Please make sure the form is NOT folded and the barcode can be seen through the envelope window.

No. Please return in the Reply Paid envelope provided. 

We recycle any unused materials from the Census Test. Any unused Census Test letters and envelopes you have can be recycled as well.

Visit help completing your Census Test to see what help and support options are available that may assist you to complete your Census form.

You can help a family member or friend complete the Census Test. You can also complete the Census Test on behalf of a family member or friend. Please ensure the answers you provide are as accurate as possible. 

If your family member/friend was at your house on Census Test night or lives with you, you can include them on your household form.

You can get a paper form for them to complete the Census separately. 

If you've been asked to complete the Census Test online but would prefer to use a paper form, you can request one.

Translated information about the Census Test is available in a number of languages. 

If you need information about the Census Test in your preferred language, you can call the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National) on 131 450.

We’re committed to making the Census Test accessible to the widest possible audience. 

Our website aims to meet the Australian Government’s web accessibility requirements. 

For further information about the accessibility of the Census website and online form, see the accessibility page.

Please find more information about how we keep your information safe on our privacy page.

Information about security can be found on our disclaimer and copyright page.

All data going through the Census website, including the information provided on your Census form, will be encrypted and stored in Australia.

Only authorised ABS staff will be able to decrypt submitted data within the ABS secure environment, and all these staff are based in Australia.

For the 2026 Census, the ABS is using AI to improve productivity and enhance customer experience for people completing the Census.

During the Census Test, we’ll trial a generative AI chatbot on the Census website to help answer questions. The chatbot uses a pre-written knowledge base and does not learn from user input. It is designed to operate without collecting personal information and automatically removes any personal details that are entered, ensuring your privacy is protected.

We’ll also use Machine Learning models to code written responses provided on Census forms. These models will be used to code written responses to Occupation, Industry, Education, Religion, Ancestry, Language and Country of Birth questions to the relevant classification. All data used to train and run these models is securely stored and processed within ABS systems.

You can read more on how we use AI, visit our AI Transparency Statement.

Our official Census Test website is www.census.abs.gov.au, census.abs.gov.au, www.info.census.abs.gov.au or info.census.abs.gov.au.

For further information about official Census channels, see avoiding scams and false information.

You can report inaccurate or suspicious information you read or hear through our enquiry form.

Please see avoiding scams and false information for further assistance. 

If you got an email or SMS from the ABS regarding the Census containing a one-time PIN or Census receipt that you didn't request, someone has likely entered the wrong details when logging into their Census.

You can ignore these messages. This is not an attempt to gather any of your information.

All myGov users had the option to subscribe to Census Test updates through myGov in July 2025.  This new option was introduced to make it easy to get updates and access the Census online.

If you live in a Census Test area, you may have received a letter or paper form in the mail even if you subscribed to get Census Test updates through myGov. You can choose to complete the Census Test on behalf of your household in your preferred way.

When you’re subscribed, you’ll get updates sent to your myGov Inbox that are part of the Census Test. This will include a link to the online form sent to your myGov Inbox when it’s time to complete the Census Test.

If you haven’t subscribed to Census Test updates and you didn’t get any instructions to participate in the Census Test, there’s nothing for you to do.

If your address changed between when you subscribed and Census Test night on Tuesday, 5 August 2025, you can update your address details when completing your online form. 

You should be wary of scammers who try to trick you into sharing your myGov sign in details through fake myGov websites. myGov won’t send you an email or SMS with a link or a QR code to sign in to myGov. Always sign in to myGov using the official myGov app or enter my.gov.au into your browser. Read more on myGov information on scams.

After you sign in to myGov, the messages in your myGov Inbox are secure. This includes the updates and link to the Census Test online form sent to your myGov Inbox.

Your personal information will not be pre-filled when you access the Census Test online form through myGov, as there’s no connection with other government agencies.

Yes. If you start completing your Census Test online form through myGov, you can save and exit. To resume, you’ll then need to refer back to your myGov Inbox message with link to the online form, select the link again and you'll be authenticated back to where you last saved your form.

You can choose to unsubscribe from Census Test updates at any time. You can find out more about how to unsubscribe on the myGov website.

We'll automatically end this subscription for you, when testing ends in October 2025. Look out for communication ahead of the 2026 Census to subscribe to get updates to complete the Census through myGov.

If you’re having an issue signing in to myGov or any other myGov related questions, please contact the myGov Help Desk. If you're having an issue with your Census Test online form through myGov or any other Census Test related questions, contact us.

Prior to every Census, the ABS undertakes a review of topics on the form. This identifies where the Census can meet additional data needs, improve alignment with other national datasets, and improve the experience by reducing the burden on people when completing. The review includes public consultation, engagement and testing activities. 

The Australian Government and the Parliament determine the topics for each Census. The ABS determines the wording and layout of the questions in the Census that enable information on those topics to be collected. 

For more information about the 2026 Census please see the Outcome of the 2026 Census Topic Review.

Administrative data – or admin data – is information collected by government departments, businesses, and organisations during their regular operations. This data includes records like registrations, sales and other routine activities. Examples include things like rental and electricity usage data. 

The ABS is using administrative data to enhance the efficiency and quality of the 2026 Census. It will enable us to:

• collect Census data more efficiently
• improve the quality of our Census count
• provide a greater breadth of information in the Census dataset.

This helps to improve and expand the statistics we provide to the Australian community, and to make our surveys more efficient and easier to complete.

Administrative data is only used for statistical and research purposes, never in a way that could identify individuals. We ensure all administrative data used is protected by strict privacy and security protocols.

The ABS will be transparent and clearly communicate the use of administrative data to support the Census, including details on how the data is used. 

Find more information about how we used administrative data in the 2021 Census. Additional information will be published before the 2026 Census.

We’re testing our data collection processes and operational systems to ensure they're ready to deliver a positive, safe and secure Census experience.  

Data collected in the Census Test is for testing purposes and will not be released.

You can find vacancies and application details at work for the Census.

Media releases, news and other resources can be accessed through the Census media hub. 

For media interview requests email media@abs.gov.au.