Stats NZ will not seek to prosecute individuals who did not participate in the 2023 Census, deputy chief executive of census and collections operations Simon Mason said today.
Stats NZ has made the decision not to prosecute individuals who did not participate in the 2023 Census.
We routinely undertake due diligence before starting any process seeking the prosecution of individuals for not completing the census.
Generally, we seek to prosecute only a small number of people - between 30 and 60 people - for refusing to take part in the census. In the past, prosecutions focused on those who were threatening to census staff and those who actively encouraged others not to complete the census. Prosecutions can lead to a fine of up to $2,000.
During the due diligence process, an error was discovered in the application of specific requirements of the Data and Statistics Act 2022 (the Act).
The Act states that a request for data needs to specify:
- the section of the Act the request is being made under
- the date people must respond by
- the consequence of non-compliance, for example, facing a fine or prosecution.
We accept that we needed to be more specific with respondents. We did not meet all the requirements of the Act in detail, and as a result have decided not to proceed with prosecutions for the 2023 Census.
We looked at a different way to proceed with prosecutions by issuing an additional mandatory request for data, but it was not in the public interest nor was it necessary - this is because we had already received data from 89 to 91 percent of the people in the country on census day. This is enough data to provide us, the government, iwi, communities, and businesses with an invaluable snapshot of life in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This decision has no impact on the quality of data from the 2023 Census. It will not affect the processing, analysis, and preparation of census data for publication from 2024. It also does not affect the responses collected in the collection phase.
We are undertaking an internal review to understand how we fell short of meeting all aspects of the legislative requirements of our new Act, to learn from it and take action to ensure it does not happen again.
