Those who failed to fill out the 2023 census will not be prosecuted, due to an error by Stats NZ. 

The agency says it generally prosecutes up to 60 people for refusing to take part, encouraging others to do the same, or threatening census staff. 

Deputy Government Statistician Simon Mason told Mike Hosking that they're following legal advice after realising they hadn't met all the requirements of the Data and Statistics Act. 

He says they decided not to prosecute as they didn't feel it was right to try to force prosecutions through the court. 

Mason says this decision won't affect the quality of the data. 

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