ABS signs up spy agency for census
THE Bureau of Statistics will work with the nation’s top spooks to build a new online census from scratch for 2021 to avoid a repeat of the so-called “census fail” two years ago.
The ABS, which has acknowledged it “stuffed up some things” in the 2016 census rollout, will work with one of the nation’s lesser known intelligence agencies, the Australian Signals Directorate, and a private company to build the new “secure, trusted and simple” website for the next national survey in three years’ time.
A tender document reveals the ABS is calling for a company with a “high degree of expertise” to build and run the website, which will use cloud hosting technology and be available on mobile phones or a desktop computer.
It also shows the ABS expects the online platform to be the “default” and “most convenient channel for the public to participate” on census night, rather than paper-based forms.
Millions of Australians were unable to complete their forms online on census night in 2016 due to cyber attacks known as “distributed denial of service attacks” that forced the ABS to shut down its census website for two days.
It’s estimated the debacle blew out the costs of the 2016 census by $30 million.
Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert, the federal minister overseeing the census, told News Corp Australia he will be demanding regular updates from the ABS on all aspects of planning for the next national survey, including the implementation of recommendations from the Alistair MacGibbon review of the 2016 census.
“The Government expects the 2021 census will provide Australians with the ability to participate through a method of their choosing, including through accessible digital and paper-based options, and that the information provided will at all times be secure,” he said.
Mr Robert added that he expected the ABS to work with other agencies, including the Digital Transformation Agency and the ASD, to “provide confidence that they are able to establish a secure and resilient digital solution”.
A spokesman for Mr Robert confirmed the ABS had consulted with the ASD for the 2016 census but said the bu- reau was “actively collaborating” with the intelligence agency “much earlier in the design and development of the 2021 census”.
ABS Chief Statistician David Kalisch noted in a speech in 2016 that the ABS “stuffed up some things” in the rollout of the 2016 census and that the agency intended to learn from the experience for the next national survey.
An ABS spokesman said websites had been developed for each census since 2006 to account for traffic growth.
The first three online censuses were run via digital platforms developed by computer giant IBM, which is believed to have paid the Commonwealth millions in compensation over the 2016 census issues but the confidential sum has never been disclosed.