Around 21,000 households and dwellings across parts of Tauranga and Auckland (Glendowie and Eden Terrace) have been invited to take part in the 2022 test of the census, Stats NZ said today.
The test is being run to provide assurance of the design and inform operational processes for the official 2023 Census.
Given the evolving situation with COVID-19 and the Omicron variant impacting our communities, Stats NZ has been working with community leaders to understand the safest and best possible path forward to continue our testing.
“It is important we listen to the community and take their feedback into consideration when making decisions on how we proceed with testing and overall planning of the census. Testing the census helps us to test in a live environment and enables us to give back to community leaders and groups by sharing the insights from the exercise,” Deputy Government Statistician / Deputy Chief Executive – Census and Collections Operations Simon Mason said.
The test has been designed to be flexible and responsive to the unpredictable and changing COVID-19 environment in order to prioritise the safety of the community and Stats NZ staff. This includes limiting contact with households and respondents who are involved in the test, the provision of personal protective equipment, extensive health and safety training, and contact tracing processes for our staff.
Households and non-private dwellings (such as hotels and retirement complexes) that are involved in the test will have received postcards letting them know about the census test and many will have already received packs with forms and instructions. Some test areas will see census collectors in their streets delivering paper form packs to letterboxes.
Participation in the test is voluntary, but the more people who participate the better prepared we are in ensuring the next census is a success.
Testing of the census will run between 14 February and the end of April 2022.
The official census test day is Tuesday, 8 March 2022.
For more information, visit www.census.govt.nz
