Census Act 1973 |
2020 REVISED EDITION |
This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021 |
An Act relating to the taking of a census in Singapore from time to time. |
[7 September 1973] |
Short title |
1. This Act is the Census Act 1973. |
Interpretation |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
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Power to direct census to be taken |
3. The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, direct that a census be taken throughout Singapore or of any specified area of Singapore of the population, housing, agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, trade, labour, industry, building and construction, commerce, education, health and family planning, transportation or any other matters that the Minister may consider necessary or desirable and may by the same or a different notification prescribe —
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Appointment of Superintendent of Census |
Appointment of Deputy Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents of Census |
5. The Minister may appoint for specified areas such Deputy Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents of Census, and assign any functions to them that the Minister considers necessary for the purpose of any census directed to be taken under the provisions of this Act. |
Appointment of supervisors and enumerators |
6. The Superintendent may, by writing under the hand of the Superintendent, appoint such supervisors, enumerators and other census officers as the Superintendent considers necessary to supervise or take or aid in the taking of a census within any specified area, and may at any time revoke those appointments. |
Census officers |
7.—(1) Every census officer is deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code 1871.
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Occupier to allow access and permit affixing of numbers |
8. Every person occupying any dwelling house or other premises must allow any census officer such access to the dwelling house or other premises as may be necessary for the purposes of a census, and must allow the census officer to paint, mark or affix on or to the dwelling house or other premises any letters, marks or numbers that the Superintendent considers necessary for the purposes of the census and to make any alterations to those letters, marks or numbers. |
Questions by census officers |
9. A census officer may ask any person within the limits of the area for which the census officer is appointed such questions as may be necessary to obtain the information required for the purposes of the census. |
Delivery and filling in of schedule |
10.—(1) A census officer may leave at any dwelling house or other premises within the area for which the census officer is appointed a schedule to be filled in by the occupier of the dwelling house or other premises or of any specified part of the dwelling house or other premises.
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Enumeration of persons in public institutions, hotels, etc. |
11.—(1) The Superintendent may deliver or cause to be delivered to the following persons a schedule to be filled in in respect of the persons who at the time of the taking of a census are in or upon those premises:
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Enumeration of naval, military and air forces, travellers, etc. |
12. The Superintendent must obtain, by such ways and means as appear to the Superintendent best adapted for the purposes, the information required by this Act or the rules made under this Act with respect to —
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Request for information from competent authorities |
13.—(1) The Superintendent may, for the purposes of a census, in writing direct any competent authority specified in the first column of the First Schedule to furnish or supply to him any particulars or information obtained by the competent authority under the written law specified in the second column of the First Schedule and, despite the provisions of any written law, the competent authority must furnish and supply those particulars and information within the time that may be agreed to by the Superintendent and the competent authority.
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Certain employers may be required to be enumerators |
14.—(1) Upon receipt of a written requisition in the prescribed form signed by the Superintendent, every employer of —
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Government employees to assist in taking census |
15. All Government employees are bound to assist the work of taking the census when so required by the Superintendent. |
Schedules and returns to be delivered by enumerator to supervisor and forwarded to Superintendent |
16.—(1) Every enumerator must deliver to the supervisor of the area for which the enumerator is appointed all schedules and all such returns as may be required by the Superintendent on the day or days to be appointed for that purpose by the Deputy or Assistant Superintendent for the district or area.
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Release of census information |
17.—(1) The Superintendent must, upon receipt of the schedules and returns forwarded under this Act, cause reports to be made of them, and those reports must be printed and published for general information.
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Disclosure of census information |
18.—(1) Despite section 17, the Superintendent or any census officer authorised by the Superintendent in writing may, on the written request of a responsible officer of any public authority specified in the Second Schedule, disclose on a confidential basis any particulars or information relating to any individual person obtained under the provisions of this Act to the public authority if —
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Offences by census officers |
19. Any census officer or any person employed by the Superintendent in the preparation of reports and abstracts who —
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General offences |
20. Any person who —
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Impersonation of census officer |
21. Any person who impersonates a census officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months. |
Consent of Public Prosecutor |
22. No prosecution shall be instituted under this Act without the consent of the Public Prosecutor. |
Census records not admissible in evidence |
23. No entry in any book, register or record made by a census officer or by any other person in the discharge of his or her duty under this Act is admissible as evidence in any civil or criminal proceedings, except in a prosecution instituted under this Act in respect of any entry against the person who made the entry or caused it to be made. |
Rules |
24. The Minister may make rules —
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Amendment of Schedules |
25.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Minister may by notification in the Gazette amend the First or Second Schedule.
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Transitional provision |
26. All information collected under the repealed Census Act (Cap. 297, 1970 Revised Edition) is subject to the same safeguards relating to disclosure as are provided by this Act as if that information were collected under this Act. |
Current Acts and Subsidiary Legislation | |
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Revised Editions of Acts | |
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