Census 2023 needs to be completed by Tuesday, March 7. Photo / Bevan Conley
The Census exists to support government decision-making, but New Zealanders everywhere rely on the data for their business, research and advocacy work.
Census 2023 needs to be completed by tomorrow, March 7 unless you are living in an area affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Meet four New Zealanders who are eagerly awaiting the results of this Census and who urge their fellow Kiwis to complete the census and be counted.
Independent researcher Greg Waite is using data from the 2018 Census to understand the “informal” housing market, often sub-standard properties where occupants have fewer legal tenancy protections.
“There are huge stories that wouldn’t get told without the Census,” Waite said.
“There is a tendency to say the ‘market’ is everything, but if you look at the Census compared to the [public data on] market rents, there is a big informal market.”
His research, conducted for the Child Poverty Action Group, is due soon and will include regional breakdowns communities can use in their bids for more funding.
“For housing, it’s the best single source of data.
“I really want people to fill out the Census form, I can see how people are so busy now, it would be so helpful if people filled it out.”
Census data allows small advertising company Bananaworks to be “a bridge” between mainstream organisations and ethnic groups in New Zealand.
Account director Lucy Ong said Census data is important for small companies and corporations, just as it is for communities and councils.
The company uses Census data to create targeted marketing plans for their corporate clients and anticipate where the market may be heading.
“For example, one of our clients has a large audience of Chinese-speaking immigrants.
“Having a detailed idea of their age, education background and the time spent living in New Zealand, we can help them understand more about their customers and what [will happen] in the next few years.”
Independent community researcher and practitioner Jennifer Khan-Janif MNZM said Census data was pivotal to her work addressing family harm among Fiji Indians.
“Through my voluntary community work, I was aware of the increase in family harm cases for Fiji Indians.
“The 2018 Census data identified a total of 15,000 people of Fiji Indian descent, an increase of 5000 from 2013 Census.
Khan-Janif suspects although the recorded number increased between censuses, it still doesn’t reflect the true size of the community, however, the data was still important.
“This information was very useful in recognising the geographical areas and local council boundaries in Auckland with a high number of Fiji Indian population group.”
Khan-Janif said accurate census data also helped with understanding collective identity, including the status of the Fiji Indian language, Fiji Hindi, in New Zealand.
She urged those nervous about filling out the Census form, especially those who may have a fear of authority based on their home country, to “rest assured” the data was confidential and protected.
“Filling out the form is important, have your voice. Please do participate.”
Census data motivated last year’s Young New Zealander of the Year Ezra Hirawani and Ben Armstrong to find a way to get power into the homes of 3 per cent of dwellings that reported having no electricity in the 2018 Census.
“I’m a father, I’ve got a family,” Hirawani told Stats NZ.
“To think that tomorrow, a beautiful wife like mine might have to tell beautiful kids like mine they might have to choose between having a nice warm bath and or having kai that night … and so we decided to do something about it.”
Hirawani and Armstrong founded power company Nau Mai Rā where customers can choose to direct a portion of their bill towards helping struggling families.
“If we have good specific data about what whānau are going through, then we can have bespoke solutions and make those kind of decisions to be able to deliver the impact for that problem.”
The ex-Taranaki Civil Defence group manager says there are a lot of changes to be made.
