Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Randwick Park in Manurewa was the site of a community event run by Statistics New Zealand recently – It’s all part of a plan to encourage Maori and Pacific people to take part in the upcoming National census.
Census Regional Manager for Community Engagement, Asilika Aholelei says the event did not just promote the census, it helped people fill in the forms onsite.
“The census is a national-wide survey which everyone needs to complete and it happens every five years,” says Asilika.
“So it aims to take a really good snapshot of our communities… and how we can support and resource the needs of our communities.”
Supporting the event with his family was MP for Takanini, Dr Anae Neru Leavasa.
“It’s about community engagement and doing it effectively. So having these events come here, doing what our community like in terms of challenges of scooter competitions, having food stalls around, having whanau and orientation, this is all really what our community needs,” he says.
Census 2023 is intentionally targeting communities that were under-represented in the last census, mainly Pacific Islanders and Maori.
Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone, CEO and Secretary for the Ministry of Pacific Peoples also highlighted the importance of filling out the census.
“Our system is designed on demand. A lot of the allocation of resources is based on what we know about the population. So when Pacific don’t participate in the census, it means they’re not counted in our funding models and that kind of thing.” she says.
Many critics blame the low turnout of Pacific People in the 2018 Census on the lack of resources available to the community.
This time round, the census team has made changes to make it more accessible and understandable for the Pacific Island communities.
“In 2018 it was all online, but we heard our community tell us that they needed resources to help them, especially with languages,” says Asilika.
“So this time around we’ve got resources in 27 languages. We’ve got that online also, that can support our Pasifika communities and the events across Aotearoa.”
With Census Day fast approaching, community events are being held up and down the country. If you can’t get to an event, you’ll likely get one in the mail. Once you get your form, you have the choice of completing it online or filling out a paper copy. And while census day is March 7th, your forms can be filled in now, if you think you’ll run out of time.
For those of you completing the forms manually, the collection teams will be available to pick them up after Census Day, says Census Regional Operations Manager for South Auckland, Lana Brown.
“My team are the field operation. So they are the door knockers and they have the people out in the community knocking on doors, helping people complete their census forms,” Lana says.
“The collectors actually have a yellow high vis-jacket with census on the label and they also have ID.”
There are some in the community who are reluctant to share their information in the census but Asilika says that the information given is strictly confidential.
“We want to encourage our communities that the information that they share is private and we don’t share that with any organisations such as Kainga Ora or Inland Revenue. It’s all confidential.”
Failing to complete the 2023 Census can lead to individuals being fined.
