In the current political and national security climate, the australian public need accurate information on the religious beliefs of our population.  In previous census information collections, it is optional to provide information on your religious beliefs.  This question on the census form needs to be changed prior to August 2016 when the next collection will take place.  The status of the question needs to be changed to make it compulsory to provide information on what religious beliefs a person has.  The information gained from the 2016 collection needs to be cross checked against immigration and centrelink records to assess its validity, honesty and accuracy.  There is potential for members of the Australian population to deceive the results and statistics by answering this question with dishonesty, as it is a anonymous collection method.