"whisky-dave" wrote in message
news:aaf44775-6940-4293-8cb4-
In Australia, after the statistical data is collected, the original
census
data is destroyed, so there is no 72 year rule in the sense of access
to all the original data on the census form.

How much does it cost to destroy and what is the point.
Are you saying we can't find out how many people lived in say sydney
100 years ago because the records have been destroyed ?

No, I think what he was saying is that the names of the individuals are
destroyed, and only the results of analysis (eg total number of people in
various categories/locations) is kept.

So fine for statistical analysis, but useless for family history research by
forthcoming generations. But also useless if you ask a question that hadn't
been thought of at the time (eg number of people in one particular suburb or
number of people under age 40 or whatever).