CENSUS AND STATISTICS.
s
No. 34 of 1949.
An Act to amend the Census and Statistics Act 1905-1946.
[Assented to 12th July, 1949.]
BE it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:—
Short title and citation.
1.—(1.) This Act may be cited as the Census and Statistics Act 1949.
(2.) The Census and Statistics Act 1905-1946 is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.
(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as the Census and Statistics Act 1905-1949.
Commencement.
2. This Act shall come into operation on the day on which it receives the Royal Assent.
3. Section seventeen of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:—
Forms to be filled up.
“17.—(1.) For the purpose of enabling the statistics referred to in this Part to be collected, the Statistician may require a person to fill up and supply, in accordance with the instructions contained in or accompanying a form supplied to that person by the Statistician, the particulars specified in that form, and that person shall, to the best of his knowledge, comply with the requirement.
Penalty: Ten pounds.
“(2.) A prosecution for a contravention of this section shall not be instituted without the consent of the Minister.”.
Publication of statistics.
4. Section twenty of the Principal Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:—
“(3.) This section shall not authorize the publication of any matter the publication of which by the Statistician otherwise than under this section would be a contravention of section twenty-four of this Act.”.
5. Section twenty-four of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:—
Officers and occupiers to observe secrecy.
“24. The Statistician, an officer, or the occupier of a dwelling, shall not, except as allowed by this Act, divulge the contents of any form filled up, or any information furnished—
(a) in pursuance of this Act; or
(b) at the request of the Statistician, for statistical purposes.
Penalty: Fifty pounds.”.