As people across Australia fill out their Census forms on Tuesday, one seemingly simple question has sparked confusion and complaints among some China-born respondents.

The question asks: “In which country was the person born?”

Seven countries are provided as tick-box options — Australia, England, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, Vietnam and South Africa — alongside an “Other (specify)” option.

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

A note underneath says the countries listed were “the most commonly reported countries of birth in the 2021 Census”.

But one major country is conspicuously absent: China.

China is not listed among the country-of-birth options on the 2026 Census form. Credit: ABS

Top 5 countries of birth (excluding Australia) in 2021 Credit: ABS

China was among Australia’s top countries of birth in the 2021 Census, with almost 550,000 Chinese-born people counted across the country.

Its absence means people born in China must instead select “Other” and manually enter their country of birth.

The design choice has drawn criticism from some respondents.

One China-born respondent said on Chinese social media platform RedNote that they had lodged a complaint with the ABS after completing the Census.

“It’s a huge joke that China, as Australia’s third-largest overseas migrant group, is hidden under ‘Other’, while Vietnam is a ready-made option,” they said.

“Who would believe it’s not intentional?

“It’s very frustrating that ABS’s own data is right there, yet they don’t base their questionnaire on their own data.” 

Several commenters said they had also submitted complaints or negative feedback about the question.

Others joked they would simply select “Other” without specifying China.

“Gonna make sure ‘Other’ hits the top 10 lol. Since we’re all lumped in there anyway,” one person wrote.

Tuesday is Census night. Credit: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

But the ABS has confirmed to 7NEWS.com.au that China’s omission is no oversight — it is intentional and has been for decades.

“This is to encourage specific answers for this question, such as China, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan, which are collected and reported separately in Census data,” an ABS spokesperson said.

“This has been the case since the current version of the question was introduced in 1991.”

The ABS said Census questions and their response options were designed based on “best practice for questionnaire design and data accuracy”.

“On this basis, Census questions on ancestry, religious affiliation and language spoken at home all include tick box responses based on the most common responses from the 2021 Census, and an “Other (specify)” box if the answer a person wants to provide is not listed,” the spokesperson said.

“We encourage everyone to provide the answer that best represents them for every question.”

The ABS did not directly answer 7NEWS.com.au’s question about how responses from people who select “Other” are ultimately coded and counted in Census data.