Australia to include gender and sexual orientation questions into 2026 census News
Jess Hawsor, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Australia to include gender and sexual orientation questions into 2026 census

Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced on Saturday that the 2026 national census will, for the first time, include questions regarding gender and sexual orientation.

This decision marks a reversal after the proposed inclusion of this topic was scrapped in August. Chalmers confirmed that gender and sexuality will form the one new category in the 2026 census, though he did not provide further information regarding the specific content of the questions and who they may apply to.

Chalmers explained that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) will now begin drafting the questions for the 2026 census. Addressing the LGBTQIA+ community directly, Chalmers said, “You matter, you have been heard and you will be counted.”

The 2021 Australian national census was criticized for not including questions regarding gender and sexual identity. In response, the ABS issued a statement expressing regret for the exclusion of the LGBTQIA+ community. Consequently, the ABS released a review in December 2023 outlining potential new topics for the 2026 census, including both sexual and gender orientation, variations in sex characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity and reasons for relocating in the last twelve months. However, the government scrapped these proposals in August, going against prior election promises and prompting the ABS to announce that the 2026 census would retain the same topics as the 2021 version.

The move sparked public backlash, with activists calling for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to be banned from attending the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the largest pride event in Oceania. Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Anna Cody, also condemned the decision, warning that it would have “serious implications for the health, wellbeing and general equality of LGBTIQA+ Australians and their families.” In response of the criticisms, the Prime Minister later altered his stance, allowing the reinstatement of the gender and sexuality topic in the upcoming census. 

The inclusion of gender and sexuality in the Australian census follows New Zealand’s incorporation of the topic in the nation’s most recent national census in 2023. New Zealand’s move was intended to “inform better decision making and provision of services for the rainbow community,” with only those of aged 15 and older required to answer questions on gender and sexuality.

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