Census to address Robinvale’s mystery population

ROBINVALE has missed out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in government funding because of inaccurate census figures and authorities have moved to address chronic under reporting in the district.

Swan Hill Rural City Council director of community and cultural development Bruce Myers estimated the council had lost about $110,000 for every 1000 people not recorded on the census — with that money needing to be offset by raising rates.

Mr Myers said inaccurate census data could cause the council to miss out on government funding for the township during the five-year period before the next census.

“Police, health services, schools and the hospital are all population based,” he said.

Mr Myers said the council was working closely with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to improve reporting in Robinvale ahead of the census on August 9.

Data from the 2011 census indicated there were 2134 residents in the Robinvale township.

But Robinvale ward councillor John Katis believes as many as 7000 people live in Robinvale and he fears the true figure will never be revealed.

For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Guardian (June 3, 2016).