Collecting Māori census data takes more than just sending aunty to collect the forms

The ethnicity section of the 2023 Census.

A leading Māori demographer says Statistics New Zealand needs to adopt a wider whānau approach to improve collection of census data from and about Māori and Pacific populations.

Professor Tahu Kukutai from Waikato University’s Te Ngira Institute for Population Research says Stats NZ learned a lot from the troubled 2018 Census, where responses fell to 83 per cent.

The 2023 census is tracking even worse as it operates in a low trust environment with a lot of disinformation in the community.

As of last week, one in five people had not completed their forms. For people of Māori and Pacific descent, that figure is two in five.

Some of the delay can be attributed to Cyclone Gabrielle, as Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay census return figures released by Stats NZ show extremely low return rates in those regions.

Kukutai said Māori groups and organisations, like the Iwi Leaders Data Group and Te Kāhui Rauranga need to take a more hands-on and proactive approach.

Waikato University Professor Tahu Kukutai. Photo / Supplied

“I think there’s huge potential in much more distributed and decentralised modes of data collection, particularly when you’re operating in a context of low trust. You need the right people turning up at your door, you need the right people giving you the messages, you need the right people involved,” Kukutai told Waatea News.com.

“That’s not just tapping people on the shoulder and saying ‘Hey, auntie, go out and collect some forms’. It’s a whole operation and it really does require the right level of investment from government.”

She says responses to censuses are tracking down globally, and statistics agencies are looking at other ways to fill the gaps such as reusing government data.

It was reported last week that $300 million had been spent on the 2023 census. That was a budget blow-out of $37m.

Census Day was officially March 7.