FED New Joint Committee to Oversee Census Preparation and Outcomes; Australian Statistician Must Review and Publish Results of Every Census

Census and Statistics Amendment (Parliamentary Oversight of the Census) Bill 2026

Opposition Bill

12 Oct 2026: MPs in the first house are debating whether this bill is a good idea in principle.

Senate

House of Representatives

Assent

Share this bill

Email Facebook X Bluesky

Topics

data privacy government oversight government transparency information sharing privacy public administration

Introduced by: Senator Dean Smith (LIB)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Parliament will appoint a Joint Committee on the Census. This committee will oversee how the Census is prepared, including the choice of topics, question design, and cyber security.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Census must hold an inquiry into the conduct and outcomes of every Census. The committee must report its findings to both Houses of Parliament.
The Australian Statistician must prepare a detailed review of each Census. This review must cover planning, workforce, security, and privacy.
The Australian Statistician must give the Census review to the Minister for the Census and the Joint Committee, and publish it on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.
The Minister for the Census must present the Census review to both Houses of Parliament within three sitting days of receiving it.
The Australian Statistician must not include any information in the Census review that could identify a specific person or organisation.
Ministers, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives cannot be members of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Census.