Key Points
- The government has said Australia’s 2026 census will include questions related to sexual orientation and gender.
- This announcement follows weeks of criticism over its decision to exclude certain LGBTIQ+ subjects from the census.
- Equality Australia’s CEO welcomed the government’s new plan but criticized the exclusion of some issues.
Next year’s Australian census will include questions on sexual orientation and gender, the Albanian government has announced.
The government has faced weeks of criticism over its decision not to include more gender and sexuality categories in the 2026 census.
The original decision — which the government claimed to be– sparked strong criticism from LGBTIQ+ groups and advocates, experts and several MPs,
At the end of August, Anna Brown, CEO of the advocacy group Equality Australia, “betrayed LGBTIQ+ people across Australia who will be made invisible again”.
The government’s “irresponsible and divisive decision will harm intersex, trans and gender diverse people.”
LGBTIQ+ Australians “have been heard”
Earlier last week, the government reversed its removal of a planned question on sexuality and announced it would be included in the 2026 poll.
On Sunday, Assistant Treasury Minister Andrew Leigh said the government was in the process of defining a new theme, “sexual orientation and gender”, to be included in the 2026 census.
“This will allow the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to ask questions about sexual orientation and gender for the first time, in line with its recommendation to the government,” he said in a statement.
“These questions will only be asked of people aged 16 and over, and the ABS has told the government that people will have the option not to answer.”
Leigh said the new topic was set in consultation with an LGBTIQ+ advisory committee. He said the ABS had not recommended a topic on variations in sex characteristics (intersex status) in the census, which would not be included.
“Although this topic was reviewed by the ABS, testing indicated that high quality data could not be collected due to the technical complexity of the topic. The Government will continue to work with the intersex community on ways to gather information in further ABS investigations.
“We value every Australian, regardless of faith, race, gender or LGBTIQ+ status.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government had listened to the community and “LGBTIQ+ Australians matter. They have been heard and they will count in the 2026 census.”
He said the ABS would formulate the best way to phrase the new questions.
Announcement draws mixed reactions from Equality Australia
Equality Australia’s Anna Brown welcomed the “reasonable, pragmatic and moral” decision.
Brown said this would ensure vital data on some of Australia’s most vulnerable populations was collected nationally for the first time.
“The census has told the national story of our evolving community since 1911, but not once has it included the full story of LGBTIQ+ in Australia,” she said.
However, she said excluding questions relating to intersex people in the census was an “incredibly disappointing decision for people born with variations in sex characteristics”.
“From our perspective, it is absolutely vital that data on people born with intersex variations is collected and captured so that these populations can also be considered when it comes to decisions on policies, programs , funding and to ensure that government decision-making also includes intersex people.
“Now is the time to let the ABS do its job and carry out the planned testing so we can finally count all Australians in 2026, including trans and gender diverse people as well as gay and bisexual people.”
