ABA CEO Simon Birmingham interview with 2SM’s Tim Webster on Census scams

E&OE
Radio Interview
2SM Sydney
12 August 2026

Topics: Census scams

Tim Webster: And Simon Birmingham is the CEO of the Australian Banking Association, and he’s jumped on the line for us. G’day, thanks for your time.

Simon Birmingham: Good morning, Tim. Good to be with you.

Tim Webster: Yeah, I did mention it to the listeners yesterday, and it’s a pretty important reminder for people hey?

Simon Birmingham: Well, it sure is. Look, it’s a demonstration of just how agile scammers can be. In some ways, scammers sit alongside some of the oldest professions in the world, and they will pivot and adapt. They adapt nowadays to the technology age, they pursue big events, be it shopping sales, scalps. You see that sort of as footy finals come up, and the census is, of course, as big an online event as we get alongside elections and the like.

Tim Webster: Yeah?

Simon Birmingham: It’s a major target because so many people do it online. Which then makes it very susceptible to the phishing scams where people send out fake emails, fake text messages, trying to trick people. And a big rule for tonight is don’t be tricked. Stick very much with the official source only.

Tim Webster: Yeah, stick within the rules. Mate, you mentioned you know how active they are. I just got one this morning, you know, and I looked at it and said, time to update your Qantas money. I mean, I haven’t got Qantas money, so very quickly I know it’s a scam. So, you just delete it and try to get rid of it. But the trouble is, they can be convincing the scammers, can’t they?

Simon Birmingham: They can. They come at all different levels of sophistication. I got one just a couple of days ago, claiming to be one of my kids having lost their mobile phone. And that’s a very common one. But people really, if it seems a little bit suspicious, think about how you will check it. In this type of case, if you think it’s the ABS, don’t click on the link though. Actually, go and use the official census website. Be alert to the fact that you know the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Census will never ask you for payment, so they’ll never need credit card details, banking details, any of that type of information. What you need to fill out duly exists on the census form and the census website, which is itself very safe, secure and important, but is the sole place you should be engaging with.

Tim Webster: You know, I’m thinking, so I’ve had a lot of listeners who, and some of them are not very computer literate, and they’re going to fill it in and send it back in the reply paid envelope. And you think to yourself, well, sometimes that mightn’t be a bad idea because online can be a minefield. But I’ve got my papers there at home. We haven’t done them, we’ll do them tonight. But if you look at the back, I mean, it’s pretty obvious what you do, you’ve got a specific number, a specific password. Just follow that, and don’t go anywhere else, and you should be okay.

Simon Birmingham: Totally, that’s right. It’s the census.abs.gov.au, and they’re the really important parts to remember .gov.au gives you the assurance that it is a government website here in Australia, and everybody should take the census important. In a past life, I used to make a lot of decisions that were informed by census data, and so it is a critical thing, and it is safe and secure and we don’t want to scare anybody. We do also want people to make sure they look after themselves and their finances. If you think you’ve done something wrong, then absolutely contact your bank as soon as you possibly can, and they can try to get your money back. That’s not always possible.

Tim Webster: No, it’s not.

Simon Birmingham: But really, the most important thing is to stay safe in the first place, and don’t believe any dubious things you see popping up on websites, social media sites, in your email inbox or text messages that might be trying to scam you.

Tim Webster: Yeah, that’s an interesting thing you said there. Just while I’ve got you in your previous life, of course, as a as a pollie, just to explain to listeners, some of them are a little bit antsy about the census and the fact that you might get fined for not doing it, etc. etc. etc. But the information the ABS gets is important to government surely?

Simon Birmingham: It is. It’s not just there for a bit of statistical interest in where the country is at. It does inform decisions about where big infrastructure spending goes, from roads and systems, and particularly in terms of investment in health and aged care, in schools and childcare, these are all systems where governments rely on good, accurate data in terms of the trends that inform our intergenerational challenges and problems around the welfare system, age pensions, how you structure those sorts of systems. We beat ourselves up as a country, but we actually do get a lot right, and I’d say that across all sides of politics, Australia has one of the best standards of living in the world, has some of the best outcomes in the world, and that is in part due to public service and institutions that inform decisions made by governments of all stripes that are based on this type of data and information.

Tim Webster: Yeah, and that’s what tonight’s all about. But don’t be scammed, and thanks very much for jumping on. Appreciate it, thanks.

Simon Birmingham:

My pleasure. Cheers.

Ends

Scams & Fraud