Should the 2026 Census ask you if you’re gay?

That’s one of the questions advocacy groups for queer Australians have been grappling with as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) prepares its next census. 

LGBTIQA+ advocacy groups have argued that the government does not collect enough fine-grain data on queer Australians to improve physical and mental health outcomes in the community that are poorer than the general population. On the other hand – could questions about people’s sexuality and gender identity risk the safety of people who aren’t out to their families? 

Seemingly out of nowhere, in recent days advocates have learned that the government will not allow the ABS to include questions about questions about sexuality, sex and gender, which the groups have been arguing for. 

On this episode of the Briefing, LGBTIQ+ Health CEO Nicky Bath chats to Bension Siebert about what should and should not be on the Census.

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