I am not sure about now, but certainly when I was working in the Aust'n Bureau of Stats (ABS) we included Aussies overseas. I remember the hassle of getting all the forms from Australia House in London.
I am curious about what other countries collect in their Census, and how often they are held.
If anyone is interested following is (paraphrased somewhat) what we were asked this year at a normal residential dwelling. Different forms and questions for other types of dwellings would apply, and obviously some questions are not relevant depending on your answers to others. There's nothing very confidential about the info these days. All the data is published, and this year unless you insisted you didn't even get an envelope to put the form in (presumably to save the labour cost of opening them).
The form has space for six people's details and you can get another form if there are more in the household or someone wants their details private from others in the dwelling. Although the booklet was 18 pages long it took me way less than 10 minutes to fill in (granted I have no family). Most of it is "mark the relevant dot" for scanning.
name gender DoB relationship to person filling in form (for families, etc) marital status Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander? where do you usually live? where did you live one year ago? where did you live five years ago? Australian citizen? (I would assume yes for dual citizens) where born? when did you arrive in Aust? father born in Aust? mother born in Aust? other language than English at home? how well do you speak English? what is your ancestry? religion (optional question) do you need help for self care? do you need help for body movement? do you need help for communication? what are the reasons for needing help? do you attend school or other education? what type of school/etc?
only for 15yo and over- highest year of school completed? any completed educational qualifications? main field of study? completed before 1988?
for females - how many children have you given birth to?
total income from all sources (select from 12 ranges) did you have a job last week? employed or employer? was business incorporated or unincorporated? do you employ people? occupation main tasks in job employer's business name workplace industry or business of employer (from a list) what are main goods procuded or services of employer? how many hours did you work last week? how did you get to work today? did you look for work in last four weeks? if you had found a job could you have started last week? did you spend time doing unpaid domestic work for their household? (political speak for "home duties") did you provide unpaid care/help/assistance to family/other? did you look after child without pay? did you perform volunteer work through group in last 12 months?
was anyone who usually live here absent on census night? (some details of those absent required) how many registered motor vehicles of residents were at dwelling on census night? how many bedrooms in dwelling? is dwelling owned, rented, mortgaged, etc? if rented who from (agent, Govt, family, etc)? how much is paid for dwelling per week/fortnight/month? can internet be accessed?
do you agree to name address and other info being kept by National Archives and made publicly available after 99 years? (optional to answer, but only done if specifically answered yes, blank assumed to be NO)