The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is seeking information from organizations to potentially provide paper data capture services for the upcoming 2026 Census.

While most census forms are csubmitted online, there is still a portion of the population still prefers or requires paper forms.

In 2021 over 78% of households complete their Census digitally. This equates to over 7.61 million online forms being submitted, and 2.87 million being submitted on Census Day alone.

In a recently issued Request for Information (RFI), the ABS aims to gauge market capabilities for end-to-end paper data capture solutions or specific components of the process.

The bureau is particularly interested in infrastructure, software, licensing, and support services that could be implemented at its premises in South East Melbourne.

This move comes after the successful processing of approximately 2.5 million paper forms during the 2021 Census. For the 2026 Census, the ABS is exploring various procurement models, including purchase and lease options.

The paper data capture operation for the 2026 Census is expected to handle a significant volume of forms, with the ABS estimating a need to process around 45,000 paper forms (1.1 million single sheets of A4) per day.

The process will require high-resolution scanning at 300dpi and advanced recognition methods such as OCR, OMR, and ICR to convert handwritten responses into electronic data. In addition there will need to be quality control measures to check poor image quality, completeness and validity of documents with ability to flag for rescan.

While the RFI is not part of a formal procurement process, it signals the ABS's proactive approach to planning for the next national census. The bureau says this information-gathering exercise will help determine whether to proceed with one or more separate procurement processes in the future