The whole is the sum of *all* its parts
On Tuesday August 8th, the Australian Bureau of Statistics will try to get an accurate picture of the community to whom they will be providing services in the future. To do this, they will attempt to count every Australian man, woman and child.
They will fail.
It is not that the ABS hasn't done this before, or that the people administering the census don't know what they are doing. They do, and they do a great service to the country.
But they will fail to count at least 5% of the Australian population. That is 1 million Australians who will not be included when the Australian government is planning the future of our country.
People like me just don't count. Literally.
Only being forbidden to vote makes me feel more isolated and less a part of the future of our country.
The Southern Cross Group are doing their best to make sure we are not completely forgotten. In partnership with Advance, they have created a web survey that has been adapted from the census questions so that all Australians living abroad can be counted.
If you are an Australian living abroad, you can find the survey here:
It becomes active on the morning of August 8th, 2006 Australian time, and will be available on the web until September 30th, 2006.
