8 Sept 2024 – National LGBTIQ+ group Equality Australia has welcomed news the federal government will include questions that capture trans and gender diverse people in the next census.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers told Insiders on Sunday that a single topic on sexual orientation and gender would be asked for the first time in 2026.
“This is the sensible, pragmatic and moral course of action, that will ensure vital data about some of the most vulnerable populations in Australia is collected nationally for the first time,” said Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown.
“It’s now time to let the ABS get on with doing its job and proceed with the planned testing so we can finally count Australians in 2026, including people who are trans and gender diverse as well as gay and bisexual.”
Ms Brown called on senators to ensure its smooth passage through parliament.
“The census has told the national story of our changing community since 1911, but it has not once included the full story of LGBTIQ+ Australia,” she said.
“Service providers, health entities, government departments and businesses rely on the census for baseline population data.
“They need a complete picture of who we are as a nation, including where LGBTIQ+ people live, what our jobs are, our health issues, where we go to school and what our families look like.”
Ms Brown said she hoped the LGBTIQ+ Expert Advisory Council could continue working with the ABS on a new topic covering people with innate variations of sex characteristics for a future census. The ABS did not recommend this topic to government because it tested poorly, according to a statement from Assistant Minister for Treasury Andrew Leigh.
“It is vital that data is collected on people with variations in sex characteristics, and the work must continue in partnership with intersex organisations to ensure they are counted as accurately as possible,” she said.
The ABS issued a statement of regret acknowledging the hurt and distress caused when the 2021 census failed to properly capture the LGBTIQ+ community. It followed a human rights complaint brought by Equality Australia and rainbow parent April Long.
Mx Long:
"Today’s announcement is deeply personal for me and so many other gay, lesbian, non-binary and transgender Australians.
"For the first time, I feel like we are truly seen.
"The 2026 Census will finally ensure that every gay, lesbian, non-binary, and transgender person is counted. This isn’t just a number—it’s about our lives, our families, and our experiences being acknowledged.
"It feels like, for the first time, we have a government that truly values our communities and is committed to creating evidence-based policies and programs that will make a real difference.
This is more than just a milestone—it’s a deeply emotional victory for all Australians who believe in equality and inclusion.
"As a parent, this also means the world to me. When our son starts school, we’ll know how many other kids, just like him, have two mums or two dads. It’s about recognition—it’s about saying to every family, “You matter.” Every child should be seen, and every family should be counted."
Morgan Carpenter from Intersex Human Rights Australia said:
"This is a devastating development, which means that the next census will be out of step with the 2020 ABS Standard, and new standards for health and medical research. It means that we won’t get much needed information on the health and wellbeing of people with innate variations of sex characteristics (intersex/differences of sex development).
"In many ways, this is not a surprising decision. Clearly the population of people with innate variations of sex characteristics is poorly understood by media and government, with the persistence of inappropriate ways of understanding who we are. We see this in widespread stigmatising and harmful attitudes. We see this in harmful attempts to count our population in the 2016 and 2021 censuses, and we see this in 2013 national gender recognition guidelines that have wrongly inserted the term intersex into a definition of a third gender.
"We see it in media reports that frame the question on innate variations as about gender and sexuality, which may now make incomprehensible the idea that the government is including questions on gender and sexuality into the census - but not the question on variations of sex characteristics."
Background:
Intersex people have innate sex characteristics that don’t fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies, and that create risks or experiences of stigma, discrimination and harm. For more information refer to Intersex Human Right Australia (https://ihra.org.au/)
Media Contact: Emily Mulligan, 0411 207 633, emily.mulligan@equalityaustralia.org.au
