Statistics NZ will ask questions that get a better response from Māori for Census 2028

The ethnicity section of the 2023 Census.

Statistics New Zealand is already looking to Census 2028 to drill deeper into Māori and what is relevant in Māori communities.

Māori Census director Atawhai Tibble says the feedback he’s had from whānau around the motu (country) on the current pātai (Census) is that the phrasing of the questions and their relevance to te ao Māori is not what matters to Māori, and they are already reshaping the questions for 2028 Census.

“There is a method to the madness of the questions but we hear what whānau are saying,” Tibble told Waatea News.

Stats NZ's Atawhai Tibble.

“We’re going to be doing a little bit of work on this in the next three to six months, what would you like to see or what would you like to hear or what you would like to be counted because we’ll be heading there soon.”

To date, about 70 per cent of Māori have filled out the 2023 Census and Stats NZ are hopeful that a final four-week push will see that number help push Māori participation to over 80 per cent.

Most of the topics covered this year are the same as previous Censuses, on population demographics, location, ethnicity, culture and identity, education and training, income, work, families and households, housing, transport, cigarette smoking, and disability.

However, Māori have found the phrasing of the questions irrelevant and ambiguous.

Tibble says 70 per cent is a great achievement given the difficult circumstances that have affected whānau over the past five years. He says there’s still time for whānau in cyclone-affected areas to complete the Census, and they have until June 1.