Committee activities (inquiries and reports)

Saving our census and preserving our history

This report remains the property of the Commonwealth of Australia 1998.

ISBN 0 644 52577 0.

The report of the inquiry into the treatment of name-identified census forms was tabled in the House of Representatives on 25 May 1998. The Government response to this report was tabled on 6 April 2000.

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Contents

Foreword

Membership of the Committee

Terms of reference

Chapter 1 Introduction

The reference
Inquiry process
Background to the inquiry
Scope of the inquiry
Outline of the report
Options examined

Chapter 2 A history of the current practice

Definition of 'name-identified census forms'
Current Australian practice
The history of form destruction
Disposal authorities
Some international comparisons

Chapter 3 Effects on data quality of retaining census forms

Introduction
Data quality and how it is assessed
Adverse effects on data quality of the census
Adverse effect on the data quality of other ABS collections
No adverse effect on, or some improvement in, data quality
Verifying concerns that data quality will reduce

Chapter 4 Privacy concerns

Introduction
Existing concerns about privacy and the census
Privacy issues if census forms are retained

Chapter 5 Research value of name-identified census records

Introduction
The content of the census
Medical research
Social research
Issues associated with the census and large scale research
Genealogical research

Chapter 6 Costs of retaining census records

Introduction
Options for retention
The option of microfilms
The option of electronic format

Chapter 7 Conclusions and recommendations

Appendices

Appendix A List of Submissions

Appendix B List of Exhibits

Appendix C List of Witnesses

Appendix D Sample form from the 1996 Census

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