Posted by Dick Eastman at http://eogn.typepad.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2005/11/australian_cens.html #more Australian Census Information to be Locked for 99 Years Proposed new laws in Australia will keep all future census records under lock and key for 99 years. Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer Chris Pearce says the information will be strictly protected over the period, even banning courts and tribunals from accessing the information. "The public can accordingly be confident this picture of Australia will, in a very real sense, be preserved in a time capsule, available after 99 years has expired, as a legacy for our descendants into the future," Mr. Pearce told parliament. He said the proposed laws would build on the experience of the 2001 census, where more than half the population opted to have their information archived.