Welcome and introductions

@alexiagarbutt @annakerr @amberigasia @barbaramavor @kayscarlet @chrose @rowanburnettjones @allanlash @stuartklaing @rosemarycurtis great to hear your introductions! Welcome to the 2018 Census group, look forward to your participation over the next few weeks :)

I'm Jonathan, and am interested in a number of policy areas and am curious to see how the census can enhance knowledge and inform the development of policies, not to mention whether it can enhance the drafting of submissions to Select Committees.

@jonathangodfrey thanks and welcome to the 2018 Census discussion forum! Will be great to hear your views on how our information can enhance policy development

I'm Sophie by the way and I work for Statistics NZ in the 2018 Census Customer Needs and Data team. I'm one of the co-ordinators of this public engagement so am really excited to see how it all goes over the next few weeks.

Just signed up - everyone read my sexual orientation discussion...Naughty and shameless self-promotion...

Tēnā koutou katoa. Ko Ella taku ingoa; no Ngāpuhi ahau. I am really interested in participating in these discussions as a part of my activism and advocacy for marginalised communities. I'm particularly interested in the way that forms allow for non-binary genders and would love to see the 2018 Census allow people to more accurately represent their identities.

@ellaanais welcome to the group! Great to hear a bit about your background. @philipwelshman thank you for joining! We would love to hear why you're interested in this forum and where you're from. There is already a discussion about sexual orientation going on - would be great if you added your thoughts in there. Here is the link.

Greetings all - I'm a scientist by training and a writer by occupation. Five years ago I developed a rare visual disorder & am no longer driving. My interest in disability stats was provoked by the discovery that I'm not blind enough to qualify for help from the Blind Foundation (they've set the bar so high that if you fail the eye chart test for driving your sight has to be twice as bad as that before they'll help you). Taking the bus has also given me common cause with the poor, the disabled and the elderly who are dependent on public transport - and with the very poor on my bus route who walk 3 Ks to an from the nearest supermarket.

Hello! I'm Kiran, and I'm a disabled queer transgender migrant teenager. I do a lot of advocacy work both locally and internationally on behalf of and supporting transgender youth like myself, especially if they are also ethnic minorities or disabled like myself, or otherwise marginalized in more than one way. I'm reasonably well-known for my work both in Auckland and overseas within young trans circles!

I also co-founded Support Our Survivors, a small community organization of ex-Avondale College students with sexual assault histories in the wake of the "Roast Busters" incident.

I'm very invested in advocating for our marginalized youth - if we're not counted, nobody will know what we need. I think it's exceptionally important that the census represents and accounts for us accurately.

I'm Jennifer Shields, an advocate for queer and trans youth based at the University of Auckland. I'm a queer mentally ill disabled trans woman. I formed and work with Trans on Campus along with other groups to try improve living and study conditions for trans youth, and to try and make an impact on the vast array of negative statistics we're overrepresented in. With the help of statistical reports like the Youth12 data, Trans on Campus is responsible for improvements in UoA's equity department, and for the university's decision to fund legal name changes for trans students who need it but can't afford it.

Like Kiran, I'm incredibly invested in making sure the next census collects information that could help us even more in similar ways - specifically, the question on gender identity.