SYDNEY: Australia will embrace questions on sexual orientation and gender in its census for the primary time, after greater than every week of controversy over the centre-left Labor authorities’s earlier choice to exclude them.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers mentioned on Sunday (Sep 8) the 2026 census would come with sexual orientation and gender, though he declined to specify the questions and mentioned the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) would design them later.
“We now have listened to the LGBTIQ+ neighborhood to ensure that we are able to work with the ABS to ship this actually essential change relating to the 2026 census,” he mentioned.
“We are saying to Australians from the LGBTIQ+ neighborhood: You matter, you’ve got been heard, you can be counted.”
The questions can be optionally available and solely requested of these over 16 years of age.
The transfer reverses an August choice to exclude questions on LGBTIQ+ id.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles mentioned then the federal government didn’t wish to open up divisive debates. He denied any political motives behind the choice amid media studies that the federal government was apprehensive about sparking a culture-war-style marketing campaign forward of an election more likely to be referred to as inside 9 months.
The UK added an optionally available query on sexual orientation in its 2021 census for the primary time.
