The next Australian Census is set to paint a more detailed and inclusive portrait of the nation, with authorities confirming the inclusion of new questions on gender and sexual orientation for the first time.
A More Complete Picture of the Nation
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) unveiled its plans for the 2026 Census on Tuesday, revealing a significant update to the topics that will be presented to Australians. In a landmark move, citizens aged 16 and over will be asked separate questions about their sex recorded at birth, their gender, and their sexual identity and attraction.
When responding to the gender question, individuals will have the option to select from predefined categories including man, woman, and non-binary. For those whose identity is not listed, a free-text field will be available, and a 'prefer not to answer' option will also be provided.
Ending the Invisibility of LGBTQ+ Communities
This change has been hailed as a critical step forward by equality advocates. Anna Brown, chief executive of Equality Australia, stated that the new data will finally provide a more complete understanding of who we are as a nation.
"We will finally have a more complete picture of who we are as a nation, including where LGBTQ+ adults live, what our jobs are, our health issues, where we go to school and what our families look like," Brown said.
She highlighted the failure of the 2021 census to meaningfully count people of diverse sexualities and genders, which has left hundreds of thousands of people invisible or misrepresented in national data. This lack of accurate information has undermined service delivery by health providers, government departments, and businesses that rely on census data.
Broader Changes and Data Timeline
The 2026 Census will introduce other refinements alongside the new topic of sexual orientation. These include allowing respondents to choose up to four ancestries and updates to the wording concerning parents' country of birth.
Australia's next census will be held on August 11, 2026. The ABS developed the topics through a comprehensive review and public consultation process. The valuable data collected will be released in three distinct phases:
- The majority of topics, including the new gender and sexual orientation data, will be released in June 2027.
- Employment-related information will follow in October 2027.
- The remaining data, including the distance people live from their workplace, will be made public in early 2028.
Jenny Telford, Census general manager, emphasised that the 2026 Census will deliver richer insights to meet emerging data needs, with results being made freely available across a range of products for easy public access and use.
