Nearly 95% of census forms have been received, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has claimed as the process draws to a close.
But despite the deadline being this evening, the ABS will continue to accept paper forms that arrive at its headquarters next week.
The 2011 census covered 96.5% of all households with the participation rate being 98%.
Those who do not submit their forms will receive notice that they will be fined at the rate of $180 per day.
{loadposition sam08}The census was held on 9 August but ended in a debacle when the website was taken offline at 7.30pm. It was put down to a distributed denial of service attack.
A post-enumeration survey will cover 50,000 households and will be compulsory.