LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) has praised Prime Minister and Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh, who is responsible for the Census, saying they have displayed “strong leadership” by listening to experts, swiftly considering the advice and deciding to include a new topic on gender and sexual orientation in the 2026 Census.
A fortnight ago, the government announced that proposed questions about sexuality, gender and sex characteristics would not be included in the 2026 census which is deployed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The move sparked a wave of criticism from LGBTIQA+ rights groups with Nicky Bath the CEO of LHA being one of the loudest voices calling for the government to revisit the decision.
The decision, which according to cabinet leaks published in the Nine newspapers, was reportedly solely an initiative of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
It was a surprising move given that Labor in opposition had taken a dim view on the coalition making a similar call at the last census, and a subsequent complaint to the Human Rights Commission had resulted in the ABS issuing a statement of regret.
In the days the followed the announcement senior ministers attempted to explain the decision as an attempt to protect the LGBTIQA+ communities from divisive public debates, while other said the questions that were being put forward were too confusing.
After a week of negative news reports the PM buckled and said a question on sexuality would be allowed, but after increasing complaints about the government’s approach this morning Treasurer Jim Chalmers said a gender identity question was now also back on the agenda.
Nicky Bath, CEO said today’s decision was a great outcome, praising government ministers for their “string Leadership”.
“Today is a great outcome for the health and wellbeing of trans and gender diverse people and people with diverse sexual orientations across Australia. The announcement from the Albanese Government confirming the 2026 Census will capture questions on gender and sexual orientation, which means that for the first time, health and wellbeing service and program planning will have access to much-needed data to inform their decision-making.”
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) did not recommend that a question on innate variations of sex characteristics progress due to how it performed through the testing processes.
Dr Morgan Carpenter, CEO of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA), 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).”
IHRA said the public discourse relating to people with innate variations of sex characteristics had demonstrated the issue is poorly understood by media and government, and this has perpetuated widespread stigmatising and harmful attitudes.
“We saw harmful attempts to count our population in the 2016 and 2021 censuses, and in 2013 government gender recognition guidelines. The recent media reports have framed the question on innate variations as about gender and sexual orientation. We don’t have funding to deliver psychosocial support services, let alone address the stigma and discrimination that people with innate variations of sex characteristics experience,” Dr Carpenter said.
Nicky Bath said the two organisations would work together with the government to develop a question that worked and look at other ways of gathering data on people who have experienced innate variations of sex characteristics.
“From the perspective of gender and sexual orientation, today’s announcement means that having the 2026 Census data and the new LGBTIQA+ Health and Wellbeing 10 Year National Action Plan in place we will have the best chance of tackling the health disparities of LGBTQ+ people.” Bath said.
“LHA would like to thank the overwhelming support of everyone who has contributed to the decision made today; this includes parliamentarians, member organisations, partners, the community, media, members of the public, and finally, the ABS whose partnership we greatly respect and value.”
