Gender, sexual orientation and ethnic identity: Australians could be asked new questions in the 2026 Census
Retrieved on:
Giovedì, Luglio 27, 2023
Planning for the August 2026 census is, however, well under way at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Key Points:
- Planning for the August 2026 census is, however, well under way at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
- On Thursday, the ABS released results from the first round of consultations, and gave an indication of likely directions for the 2026 census.
- The ABS flagged there could be changes to topics such as income, ethnic identity, gender and sexual orientation.
Balancing act
- Governments, researchers, the media and community organisations all rely on data from the census, so changes don’t happen lightly.
- Dropping a question from the census can have serious impacts on our ability to track changes in outcomes and leave a gap in what we know about our nation.
Potential removals
- What that would mean is a census record would be supplemented with tax and social security data.
- Data linkage to the census is done routinely in other countries, and has a certain appeal.
- Plus, there’s more and more administrative data on income that can be linked to the census, which is increasingly being used in research.
It isn’t that these topics aren’t interesting, but the ABS thinks there are alternative data sources available. There will undoubtedly be people who see the census as still the best method of collection for these topics, but they’re going to have to make a strong case for their retention.
What about additions?
- However, the ABS is concerned there are differences in how people interpret the term “ethnicity”.
- It’s seeking feedback on whether to add an additional question, or whether to replace ancestry with ethnic identity.
- The ABS is also exploring whether and how to ask questions on gender, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics.
- For the first time, in 2021, the ABS made available the option for non-binary when people were asked about their sex.
What you can do
As the next phase of consultation is open, people are encouraged to identify whether the potential new topics might be helpful, and what the risks might be in dropping or changing existing topics. All Australians benefit from having a robust and relevant census. The more Australians able to give their views to the ABS, the better the census will be, and the better the decisions that will flow from the data.