Residents will have recently received a letter alerting them to the various ways to complete the Census on Tuesday, August 9.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has pushed an online form, stating that 15 million people, or 65 per cent of households, are expected to fill out the Census online.

Households can request a paper form, but a relatively low-key campaign for the Census has raised concerns that people may not be able to organise their form on time and face penalties.

To ease concerns, a spokesperson from ABS confirmed people would likely not receive a fine if the Census is not completed on Tuesday.

“You will not receive a fine for submitting a late Census form, but you should still make sure to submit it as soon as possible,” they said.

“We do everything we can to encourage participation and penalties are a last resort.” 

But for those who struggle with or don’t have access to the internet, not having the paper form is still worrying.

Bathurst Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association president John Hollis said while seniors were becoming more comfortable with technology, there hasn’t been enough consideration for those who still aren’t.

“The authorities are just throwing the need for this technology without considering that there are a lot of older people who have grown up without a computer on their desk,” he said.

If people want to receive a paper form, they must phone the Paper Form Request System on 1300 820 275 and enter a code listed in the ABS letter. A form will then be sent out, but Mr Hollis questioned how practical this is so close to the Census.

“We’ve got a real snail-mail system and sometimes it takes three days for mail to move across Bathurst, let alone getting from where [the Census form] is posted from,” he said.

Bathurst Seymour Centre manager Terisa Ashworth also took issue with waiting for the paper form to arrive.

“It is a fairly limited time frame; we’ve only got a week left before the Census,” she said.

Ms Ashworth said this also impacted on older people who needed to arrange someone to help answer the questions, either online or on the paper form.