A new digital-first census model is being tested on 22,000 households across the country tonight.

Statistic New Zealand says this will help find out whether the new processes planned for the next census in 2018 really work.

Online census participation is being made easier.

'We're changing to a digital-first census model. We want to make it really easy for people to fill in their forms, so we're testing mobile, desktop, and tablet versions to find out what people prefer,” says 2018 Census general manager Denise McGregor.

'By introducing new ways of collecting information, we'll be able to produce the census counts and other census information faster.”

A sample of households across Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, and Canterbury are testing new processes and online forms for Statistics NZ.

Households have a few weeks to complete their forms. After that some households will be asked about their experience of the Census Test, to help plan the next census.