Australia's first online census is set to trouble the elderly

With Australia's official census set to be conducted next month, concerns have been raised for older Australians who might not be able to negotiate the online interface.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has predicted the Aug. 9 census will be the nation's largest ever online event, with more than 15 million people expected to log on to fill in their details.

But simply getting access to the internet is expected to challenge many older Australians, Council on the Ageing's Victorian head Ronda Held said in News Corp newspapers on Thursday.

"For many older Australians the new census arrangements will present difficulties especially for those who do not have a computer," Held said.

"It is likely to increase confusion and anxiety among older people who will need to get a paper form by telephoning and quoting a 12-digit census login number."

Australia's last census, taken in 2011, was to be completed on a paper form which was mailed and distributed to homes around the nation, while the 2016 edition the first to be largely held online.

Households will be mailed a unique, 12-digit login code, which they will need to access the online interface, but Victoria's Census Director Annette Kelly said while most would be happy to use one of their computer or smartphone to complete the online census, there was an option to call up the ABS to request a more 'traditional' paper form.

She said people, including older Australians, who wish to fill in the census physically, should wait for their instruction letter to be mailed to them before they contact the ABS.

"They can ring the automated phone service, punch in their code and they'll have a form delivered priority mail to them," Kelly said.

Anyone who prefers to fill out the information on a physical piece of paper can return it easily with the prepaid envelope, she added.

Also new in this year's census is the option to describe one's sexual identity, as an increasing number of Australians identify as neither male nor female, while the "no religion" option will be moved from the bottom to the top of the religious affiliation section after it was, for the first time, the most popular option in 2011's census.

Director of the Census National Management Unit, Sam Thomas told the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) the change was made after research suggested that many who may have been brought up with religion might have been choosing their religion as it was higher on the list.

He said some people might not have seen the "no religion" option, whereas this time around, people who are actively religious will have to actively seek out their religion, giving a "more accurate" snapshot.

"We believe that it's more consistent with the rest of the questions on the form, the way they're structured, and should lead to a more accurate response," Thomas told the SBS.

Meanwhile ABS census head Duncan Young told News Corp on Thursday that the online privacy of Australians would be protected, and downplayed any concerns by saying the ABS had and will continue its "100-year unblemished record" of confidentiality.

Those who choose to not participate in the census would receive a visit from an ABS volunteer, while a sustained failure to fill in the information could result in a fine.

"You may be subjected to (a fine of) 135 U.S dollars on the day that you refuse to fill the form in," Kelly said.

Last census, there were fewer than 100 prosecutions across the country for those who refused to take part in the compulsory count. Endit