The Australian Bureau of Statistics has admitted this year’s forced shutdown of the website on census night will cost taxpayers $30 million dollars.

The head of the ABS told a Senate Estimates Committee on Wednesday night that the move from paper to digital forms was intended to save the ABS $100 million.

But due to the website problems, that savings estimate has now come down to $70 million.

Chief statistician David Kalisch has apologised for poor judgement and testing the patience of Australians during the census meltdown, adding that there were plenty of lessons to learn from.

Approximately 10,000 Australians have refused to complete the 2016 census, compared to 13,000 refusals for the 2011 survey.

So far no-one has been fined for failing to participate.

– TiVi Tuan-san