About one in five people are still due to return their Census forms as the cut-off date has been extended until the end of next week.
The Census, which is taken every five years, was supposed to have been completed by 7 March but Stats NZ has allowed Kiwis until 5 May to complete the form.
“The second phase of census collection is where census collectors door-knock homes that haven’t filled in their forms but that will stop on 3 May - everywhere but the cyclone-impacted areas,” Stats NZ says.
"There are about 2,125 people involved in the follow-up process and they have completed about 1.8 million visits to date."
Stats NZ says there will still be face-to-face support available to do the Census from Thursday 4 May through to Sunday 4 June but that's the official cut-off date.
At 9am this morning, 4,347,259 people had returned an individual form but about one in five people still need to return their forms - with one third made up of Māori and people identifying of Pacific ethnicity, according to a Stats NZ spokesperson.
Filling in the Census is a legal requirement according to the Data and Statistics Act 2022, which came into force last September and replaced the Statistics Act 1975.
"Those who haven’t completed their forms by 5 May will receive a final notice from Stats NZ explaining the legal requirement to complete it," Stats NZ says - otherwise a $2000 fine awaits.
Those affected by Cyclone Gabrielle have until the first week of June to complete their forms.
“To avoid having too many prosecutions (which are expensive and take a lot of time to process), the prosecution team prioritise the refusals that remain after the date specified in the letter. They work with a legal advisor to identify the cases that will proceed to prosecution.”
Stats NZ says there is a priority to prosecuting those who have a strong negative attitude (including being abusive or threatening), particularly towards Stats NZ Census staff or contractors.
"Prosecution is also prioritised by the number of people affected by the non-compliance and by those who have encouraged others not to complete their forms."
According to an OIA request, prosecutions for the Census are not pursued by demographic categories, such as ethnicity or age. The only categorical information on prosecutions held by Stats NZ is the district or court in which the case was taken.
For the 2018 Census, there were 60 cases taken, of which there were 47 convictions. Two cases were dropped due to Covid-19 related factors and 11 other cases were withdrawn or dismissed.
The cases were all in the North Island and included Auckland Central, the Far North, Whangarei, Hamilton, South Auckland, the Coromandel and North Shore and Waiheke Island districts.
Once a charge has been filed with the court, it is too late for a person to avoid prosecution by completing their Census forms, Stats NZ says.
"Our aim is to contact the people who do not complete their Census forms properly in a range of ways to encourage them and help them to participate in the Census.
"We consider each case on its own basis. If a person completes their form(s) correctly before charges are filed, the prosecutions team may decide that no further steps will be taken," Stats NZ says.
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