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Canada and Australia Will Have Questions Not in Previous Census

The census will be taken this year but there will be a difference from all previous census - it will ask your permission to be included in the census of 2006.

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Type: Article
Resource: Genealogy Today
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Word Count: 242 (approx.)
Labels: Census 
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The census will be taken in Canada in May this year, and in August this year in Australia, but there will be a difference from all previous census - it will ask your permission to be included in the census of 2006.

In Canada, the census will be taken Tuesday, May 6, 2006 and the "Opt-Out" question will be, "Does this person agree to make his/her 2006 Census Information available for public release in 2098 (92 census after the census)?" The answer will be either "Yes" or "No". The question will apply to all people who usually live at the address, including those who are less than 15 years old.

This is called "informed consent" and—as Gordon Watts, co-chair of the Canada Census Committee says—"it was the price forced upon genealogists and historians seeking to regain public access to historic census records which existing legislation already stated we were entitled."

To get more information, please go to http://www22.statcan.ca/ccr_r000_e.htm.

In Australia, on Tuesday, August 8, 2006, there is an "Opt-In" question, in that the public will be asked if they want their information released in 99 years.

The question will read, "Does each person in this household agree to his/her name and address and other information on this form being kept by the National Archives of Australia and then made publicly available after 99 years?". Unless you answer "Yes" on the form, the census will not be retained in the archives.

For more information, please go to http://www.affho.org/projects/census.php.

Source Information: Genealogy Today, New Providence, NJ, USA: Genealogy Today LLC, 2006.

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