A row over questions on gender identity in the next Census has compelled the Australian Bureau of Statistics to include questions on sexual preference.
The move comes after progressive leaders, bodies, and media outlets pushed the issue over the past week.
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.”
Progressive Pressure Forces Government Hand
The issue initially saw Labor MPs split on whether to oblige calls for a question on identity.
Victorian members were vocal in their support.
“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 federal Labor Member for Macnamara Josh Burns.
Burns narrowly edged out the Greens at the 2022 election, and represents suburbs like St Kilda and Port Melbourne in inner-city Melbourne.
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.
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 earlier 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 2021 Census only included a question about sex, which the bureau said was distinct from a person’s gender.
“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, earlier called the decision not to include the options for gender “disgraceful.”
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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