Census Act |
(CHAPTER 35) |
(Original Enactment: Act 47 of 1973)
REVISED EDITION 1991 |
(1st March 1991) |
An Act relating to the taking of a census in Singapore from time to time. |
[7th September 1973] |
Short title |
1. This Act may be cited as the Census Act. |
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 such other matters as he 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 such Assistant Superintendents of Census, and assign such functions to them as he 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 his hand, appoint such supervisors, enumerators and other census officers as he 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 shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Penal Code. (Cap. 224).
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Occupier to allow access and permit affixing of numbers |
8. Every person occupying any dwelling-house or other premises shall allow any census officer such access thereto as may be necessary for the purposes of a census, and shall allow him to paint, mark or affix on or to the dwelling-house or other premises such letters, marks or numbers as 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. Every census officer may ask all persons within the limits of the area for which he 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 he is appointed a schedule to be filled in by the occupier of the dwelling-house or other premises or of any specified part thereof.
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Enumeration of persons in public institutions, hotels, etc. |
11.—(1) The Superintendent may deliver or cause to be delivered to —
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Enumeration of naval, military and air forces, travellers, etc. |
12. The Superintendent shall obtain by such ways and means as appear to him best adapted for the purposes the information required by this Act or the rules made thereunder 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, notwithstanding the provisions of any written law, the competent authority shall furnish and supply those particulars and information within such time as 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 shall be bound to assist the work of taking the census when so required by the Superintendent. [14 |
Schedules and returns to be delivered by enumerator to supervisor and forwarded to Superintendent |
16. Every enumerator shall deliver to the supervisor of the area for which he 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, and it shall be the duty of the supervisor to verify them and to transmit them forthwith to the Deputy or Assistant Superintendent who shall, upon receipt of the schedules and returns, immediately forward them to the Superintendent. [15 |
Release of census information |
17.—(1) The Superintendent shall, upon receipt of the schedules and returns forwarded pursuant to this Act, cause reports to be made of them, and those reports shall be printed and published for general information. Prior to and after the publication of those reports, abstracts and special tabulations may be released for general information.
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Disclosure of census information |
18.—(1) Notwithstanding section 17, the Superintendent or any census officer authorised by him 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 and any person employed by the Superintendent in the preparation of reports and abstracts who —
[8/90] [17 |
General offences |
20. Any person who —
[8/90] [18 |
Impersonation of a 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. [15/2010 wef 02/01/2011] [20 |
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 duty under this Act shall be 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 it or caused it to be made. [21 |
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 pursuant to the repealed Census Act (Cap. 297, 1997 Ed.) shall be subject to the same safeguards relating to disclosure as are provided by this Act as if that information was collected under this Act. [23 |