The Chairperson of the Justice Committee has called for public submissions on two bills related to the Government’s work to modernise the census process. The Data and Statistics Act 2022 requires the Government Statistician to take a census of the population and dwellings of New Zealand in every fifth year after the last census. Although the Statistician has discretion to decide how they will take the census, the Act implicitly assumes that it will be a large-scale survey involving the total population of New Zealand.

The Data and Statistics (Census) Amendment Bill would amend the Act to update the Statistician’s census obligations under a modern, administrative-data-first census approach. Under this approach, future censuses would be taken using administrative data as the primary source, which would be supported with survey data. The bill’s other amendments include requiring the annual publication of census data and statistics and moving the next census from 2028 to 2030.

The Electoral (District Boundaries) Amendment Bill seeks to address the electoral implications of the updated census approach. It would amend the Electoral Act 1993 to decouple the timing of electoral boundary reviews from censuses. From 2030, electoral boundary reviews would instead be tied to every second general electoral cycle.

Tell the Justice Committee what you think

Make a submission on the Data and Statistics (Census) Amendment Bill or the Electoral (District Boundaries) Amendment Bill by 11.59pm on Wednesday 15 April 2026.

For more details about the bill:

• Read the full content of the Data and Statistics (Census) Amendment Bill or the Electoral (District Boundaries) Amendment Bill
• Get more details about both bills

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