I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to table an explanatory memorandum relating to the bill.

Leave granted.

I table an explanatory memorandum and seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

Introduction

I rise to commend this Bill to the Senate.

This Bill introduces a parliamentary review of the Australian Census.

The Census of Population and Housing (the Census) is conducted every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), under the authority of the Census and Statistics Act 1905, and is one of Australia's most important statistical collections.

Census data is used to inform decisions about transport, schools, health care, infrastructure and business. The data also helps plan local services for individuals, families and communities, in addition to providing accurate population estimates for Australian Electoral Commission redistributions and for GST distribution calculations.

The operations of the Census are complex, as it attempts to count every single person and household residing in Australia on a single designated night.

The Census must capture an incredibly detailed, granular profile of every single person physically present in Australia on a single night. This includes children, infants, international students, and tourists.

It requires tracking down and obtaining the details of transient populations, people on long-haul transport, and those in rural, regional and remote communities. In terms of sheer volume, the Census involves collecting detailed data from approximately 28 million people and roughly 10.5 million households. It also requires the development and rollout of a digital platform to process online submissions and a massive surge workforce of over 30,000 field staff to execute.

The Census is also an expensive exercise, with the 2026 Census costing over $700 million.

Given the nature of such an exercise, it is necessary for the conduct, operations and administration of the Census to be subject to scrutiny and review.

The ANAO provides a report into Cyber Security Readiness for the Census, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) undertakes and manages several reviews into the operations and outcomes of the Census.

However, there is no fully independent, comprehensive review that examines in detail all aspects of the operations and outputs of the Census.

The Australian Parliament conducts a review after every federal election to ensure the integrity, safety and transparency of our nation's democratic processes. This review is currently managed by the multi-party Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

This Bill will introduce a similar Parliamentary review process for the Australian Census. A parliamentary review into the Australian Census will serve several important functions.

Despite the complexity and cost of the Census, parliamentary review of the Census outside of the Senate estimates process has been limited to three inquiries:

This Bill will provide for the establishment of a permanent parliamentary review mechanism into the conduct of the Australian Census, modelled broadly on the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters' inquiries into the conduct of federal elections.

What the Bill does

The Amendments made by this Bill will:

Conclusion

The amendments contained in this Bill are designed to provide a practical mechanism for comprehensive and independent parliamentary review of the operations and conduct of the Census.

This Bill is a sensible and timely initiative that adds to the various other reviews into a highly complex and important statistical exercise.

I commend this Bill to the Senate.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.