Next Census to Include Gender Identity Question After Week of Pressure

The week-long debate saw the Labor Party split with its progressive electorates pushing for inclusion of gender diversity questions.

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Next Census to Include Gender Identity Question After Week of Pressure — A zebra crossing adorned with pride colours at Griffith University's Nathan Campus in Brisbane, Australia on Jan. 30, 2024. Daniel Teng/The Epoch Times

By Monica O’Shea

8/29/2024Updated: 8/29/2024

A row over questions on sexuality in the next Census has compelled the Australian Bureau of Statistics to include questions on gender identity or preference.

On Aug. 30, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the relevant questions were now being developed.

“They’re going to test for a new question, one question about sexuality, sexual preference,” he told ABC Radio.

“They'll be testing, making sure as well that people will have the option of not answering it.”

The move comes after progressive leaders, bodies, and media outlets pushed the issue over the past week. The 2026 Census was supposed to feature the same questions as the 2021 edition.

Progressive Pressure Forces Government Hand

The issue saw Labor MPs split, notably with Victorian members speaking out in support of asking about resident’s sexuality.

Federal Labor Member for Macnamara Josh Burns, who only narrowly edged out the Greens at the 2022 election, broke away from his party on the issue.

Burns represents suburbs including St Kilda and Port Melbourne in inner-city Melbourne.

“I am proud to represent our LGBTIQA+ community. They count and should be counted. The census is an important tool to feed into government decision-making and the delivery of services,” he said on X.

This position differed from Acting Labor Prime Minister Richard Marles, who told the media the government had decided not to add new questions to avoid division.

“We are doing that because we do not want to open up divisive debates in the community now,” Marles told journalists at a press conference.

Federal Labor Member for Wills Peter Khalil, who represents an area in Melbourne’s inner north, also called for questions regarding sexuality and gender identity to be included.

“I have been making my views, and those of the LGBTIQA+ community in my electorate, known to our leadership,” he said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he genuinely understands people’s disappointment, but the government’s focus has been on other things, including the cost of living.

“It’s not unusual for the ABS to test and tease out questions in advance, and that’s what’s prompted all of this now, but the Census itself isn’t until 2026. And so our goal here has been to try to avoid some of the nastiness that sometimes accompanies that in the lead‑up to the Census,” he said on ABC radio.

“My fear, and one of the things that’s guided us here and me here, if I’m frank, is that we’ve seen the way that these issues can be weaponised against members of our community, and we don’t want to see that happen.”

When asked if he would reverse the decision, Chalmers said, “I’m not here to flag that. I’m here to explain how we got here and why.”

Meanwhile, state Victorian Labor Minister for Equality Harriet Shing, an openly lesbian MP from Labor’s left faction, also called for federal Labor to reconsider.

“I seek review and consideration of the impact of this decision on our diverse LGBTIQA+ communities and welcome the opportunity for ongoing collaboration on this matter,” she said.

Opposition Raises Concerns About ‘Woke Agenda’

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton supported federal Labor’s Census questions and raised concerns about the “woke agenda.”

“I think the set of questions that we’ve got at the moment, the long-term way in which we’ve collected this data, has stood us well as a country,” he said.

“If you’ve got the woke agenda, which I think is at odds with the vast majority of Australians, then the prime minister should argue that case, but I think we’re pretty happy with the settings that we’ve got in place at the moment.”

Equality Australia opposed the federal government’s decision not to include LGBT.

“We deserve to be counted in the census. The idea that counting LGBTIQ people is divisive is deeply offensive and wrong,” they said.

The Census and LGBTs

The Australian Bureau of Statistics had said the next Census would remain unchanged.

“This decision means that there will be no new topics introduced for the 2026 census and no existing topics removed,” the ABS said.

Yet the ABS had previously issued a statement on the lack of gender diversity questions.

“The ABS is aware that for some respondents, the absence of questions on their gender identity, variations of sex characteristics or sexual orientation meant that they felt invisible and excluded when completing the Census and in the Census results produced.” the statement at the time said.

“Teal” MP Allegra Spender, who represents Sydney’s eastern suburbs, called on the government to reverse what she called a “disgraceful” decision.

She was one of multiple cross-bench parliamentarians who wrote to the prime minister.

“We are writing to urge the government to reverse its decision to exclude LGBTIQA+ people from the 2026 census,” the letter said.

In this letter, the parliamentarians drew attention to the ABS statement in 2023, which they said led them to believe that LGBTs “would finally be recognised in the 2026 Census.”

Meanwhile, the Greens said Labor had betrayed LGBT peoples.

“Including questions about sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex characteristics in the Census,” the Greens said.

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