Census | Rationalist Society of Australia

ABS to decide religion question, not the government, says chief statistician

Si Gladman — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 00:32:11 +0000

The chief statistician of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has told the Senate that the decision on the final wording of the religion question for the next Census in 2026 will be one made by him. At Senate estimates last week, Dr David Gruen confirmed that he and the ABS, and “not the government”, […]

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Liberal politician cites need for comparable data in push to block changes to Census religion question

Si Gladman — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:52:49 +0000

A Liberal politician calling on the federal government to block proposed changes removing the inherent bias from the Census religion question says it is vital that data can be comparable over a long time period. In the South Australian Parliament last month, upper house member Jing Lee (pictured) also warned that those wanting to “highlight […]

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Letter to Crikey

Si Gladman — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 05:56:58 +0000

This letter was sent to Crikey on 6 June 2024. Dear Editor, I’m writing on behalf of the Rationalist Society of Australia to ask that Crikey correct an inaccurate headline to an article published in late May. The heading to the article, ‘Religious privilege: Showdown looming between atheists and church groups over census question’, is […]

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Consultations with religious groups and testing to inform decision on Census religion question, says ABS

Si Gladman — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 01:20:44 +0000

Consultations with religious groups will help to inform whether the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reformulates the religion question at the 2026 Census, a Senate estimates hearing has heard. Yesterday, head statistician Dr David Gruen (pictured) told estimates that the ABS would make a decision on the religion question later in the year “on the […]

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Liberal politician adds voice to Catholic Church crusade against change to Census question

Si Gladman — Sat, 18 May 2024 04:24:00 +0000

A Liberal Party politician is backing the Catholic Church’s crusade for the Albanese government to block proposed changes to the Census religion question. South Australian upper house member Jing Lee (pictured) has placed a motion on the Notice Paper calling on the federal government to reject the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) proposal to change […]

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Surge in non-religious Australia unsettling for some media, webinar told

Si Gladman — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 07:40:47 +0000

Significant sections of the Australian media are responding to the rapid rise in non-religious identification with concern, defensiveness and fear, the latest RSA Webinar has heard. At Wednesday’s webinar, guest speaker, Dr Rebecca Banham shared insights from her project analysing the media’s response to the 2021 Census results, in which the proportion of Australian society […]

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RSA backs call for the ABS to fix problems with Census question

Si Gladman — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 22:52:26 +0000

The Rationalist Society of Australia is urging its members and supporters to support the call for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to fix the problems with the religion question in the Census. The ABS is currently reviewing the religion question, with a public consultation period open for submissions until 18 November. As one of […]

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Real ‘no religion’ figure well above what Census says, RSA Webinar told

Si Gladman — Fri, 26 Aug 2022 08:10:53 +0000

Research that suggests over half of all Australians are already not religious adds weight to the need for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to redesign the Census religion question, the latest RSA Webinar has heard. At Wednesday’s webinar, social scientist and RSA Fellow Neil Francis (pictured) argued that the new Census figure for ‘no […]

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