Proposed 2026 Census Data Products Consultation Collection Notice

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is finalising plans for the 2026 Census data product suite. This survey aims to inform of upcoming changes and allow interested data users the opportunity to provide feedback regarding anticipated impacts on their use of Census data. The ABS will use the outcomes of this survey to gauge data user sentiments to the proposed changes and inform decisions on the product suite.

The feedback survey is open between 12 and 26 May 2025.

This Collection Notice explains the management of personal information as part of the survey through the ABS Consultation Hub (Citizen Space).

Your personal information is being collected by the ABS and the ABS’s technology service provider for the feedback survey, Delib.

As part of making a submission, you may provide your personal information to the ABS through our Consultation Hub. The Privacy Notice for the Consultation Hub explains how the ABS use Delib and its technology (Citizen Space). The ABS manage the website and Delib provides the technology behind this service and its operation. Delib’s Privacy Notice explains how Delib will collect, safeguard, and process your data on behalf of the ABS. Delib (AWS) meets all Australian Government privacy and data storage requirements.

As part of a submission to this survey, the ABS will collect the following optional information: 

• Contact name
• Contact email address
• Organisation name
• Job position or title
• Responses to survey questions 

The following personal information is a required field to provide context to feedback:  

• Category that best describes the organisation you represent 

The ABS will use your submission to inform changes and updates to the 2026 Census products and outputs.

Your submission will not be published, however a summary of findings based on submissions received may be published on the ABS Consultation Hub.

We will remove your contact details (name, email address and any other identifying information) from the submission after the consultation project (February 2026) and store a de-identified version of your submission in the secure ABS environment for record keeping purposes. The Consultation Hub holds a back up copy for 60 days after the close of the submission and then it is automatically deleted from their systems.

Where you have consented to further contact by providing your details, your email address will be stored in the secure ABS environment for the purpose of sending you updates on the outcome of the survey and follow up questions on your submission. If you do not provide your email address at the end of the survey but contact the ABS through the contact email address (census.data@abs.gov.au), then we may reply to your email, utilising the address captured in your communication. If you consent to receiving email updates on the outcome of the survey, we will use the email address provided to send 2026 Census related communications to you. You can withdraw your consent to be contacted at any time by emailing census.data@abs.gov.au.

As the technology service provider, Delib will only access your personal information when requested to do so by the ABS and only for the purposes of assisting with the administration of the site.

Except for Delib in their data processing role, the ABS will not:

• share information in a way that would identify you or your organisation(s) without your consent
• share information with private organisations, such as direct marketing companies
• share information with other government agencies for compliance or regulation activities.

If you identified that you provided a submission on behalf of an organisation, the ABS may share the information in your submission to an alternative contact within your organisation if there is a legitimate reason to do so.

A submission cannot be edited in the Consultation Hub once it has been submitted. If the survey is still open, you can provide a new submission. Please contact census.data@abs.gov.au: 

• to request removal of your original submission
• if you need to access or correct your personal information. 

The ABS complies with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Archives Act 1983 in the storage, use and destruction of your personal information collected.  

The ABS Privacy Policy for Managing and Operating Our Business and ABS Privacy Policy for Statistical Information provides details about how we (the ABS) manage and protect your personal information and has information about how you can make a complaint if you feel we have not adequately protected your privacy. The Policy describes how we will respond to your complaint, and what you can do if you are not satisfied with our response. 

You can contact the ABS Privacy Officer (details below) who will respond to enquiries or assist with complaints. 

By email: privacy@abs.gov.au 

By post: ABS Privacy Officer 
Australian Bureau of Statistics 
Locked Bag 10, Belconnen ACT 2617 

Visit the Proposed 2026 Census data products feedback survey