CPSU ACT regional secretary Maddy Northam says adding only one question on gender identity in the next census isn’t good enough. Photo: Region.
The ACT branch of the public service union is leading the call for the Federal Government to clear up confusion over the 2026 Census and ensure all members of the LGBTIQA+ community are counted in it.
Following a week of heated debate about whether questions on sexuality would be included in the next census, it appears Labor is still sorting out its position.
After first saying new questions and topics would not be included in the 2026 survey of the Australian population, the government revealed that one question is, in fact, now being tested by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said there might be a sexual orientation question included, the Community and Public Sector Union says adding just one question about LGBTIQ+ is not good enough.
CPSU ACT regional secretary Maddy Northam said while the union is pleased to see the government admit the initial decision to exclude Australia’s LGBTIQ+ community from the census was wrong, adding just one question to the census on sexuality is a half-baked response.
“Excluding the LGBTIQ+ community from the census was a mistake made by this government, and the CPSU is pleased to see them admitting that,” said Ms Northam, who is also CPSU Queer Network co-convenor.
“It is now crucial that the government follows through by expanding the scope of questions to make sure all LGBTIQ+ Australians are counted.
“It is essential to survey and get a snapshot of the entire LGBTIQ+ community in the census because this data is vital for shaping effective and equitable public policy and services.”
The union insists it is necessary to collect data on the entire LGBTIQ+ community so the government and the public service can deliver appropriate and effective services for all Australians.
It says the work of the ABS and the data it collects is vital in supporting informed decision-making, guiding resource allocation and service provision, and monitoring and evaluating the impacts of policies and initiatives.
“The ABS apologised in 2021 for excluding questions on gender identity and sexuality and acknowledged the hurt and distress it caused,” Ms Northam said.
“They then established an LGBTIQ expert advisory committee to help frame additional census questions. The responsibility for supporting this good work now lies firmly with the government.
“The CPSU is calling on the Albanese Labor Government to now accept the proposed test questions provided by the ABS in full.”
Speaking on Saturday (31 August), however, the Prime Minister tried to calm the debate, suggesting there was nothing to see here.
“Nothing has changed. We are consistent about having a common sense approach to these issues,” Mr Albanese said.
“We want to make sure that everyone is valued, regardless of their gender, their race, their faith, their sexual orientation.
“We value every Australian, and we’ll work with the ABS. This is a census in 2026. It is two years away, and we’ll work with the ABS.
“But I think that common sense would see that asking about sexual orientation is a common sense thing to do.”
The PM denied he was limiting the scope of the census to only one question around sexuality and identity.
“There’s a range of other questions, including there’s already an identity question in the census,” he said.
“The ABS will work these things through.”
Speaking again on Sunday, the PM added: “There is already an identity-type question asked in the census last time, so that’s already there. I think as well, there should be something about sexual orientation as well to be included, but we’ll work those issues through.”
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth added on Sunday that questions had been initially omitted from the next census because they were “very complex”.
“We want people to complete the census and we want simple questions that people can understand and answer, that’s really important,” she told Sky News.
“The census isn’t for another two years, and I think we’ve got plenty of time to make sure that we get the questions right.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said last week, however, the reason for excluding the questions was to avoid socially divisive debates.
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg told the ABC’s Insiders program that the government didn’t seem to know what it was doing about including or excluding gender identity questions in the census.
“I think the fact that the Prime Minister has tied himself in knots on this issue shows a great weakness in his own leadership,” Senator Bragg said.
“I mean, the Labor Party promised this at the last election. So I’m not surprised that the LBGT lobby is very disappointed and feels let down.”
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