The government has decided against including questions about sexuality and gender identity in the 2026 Census. How can it make policy for LGBTQI+ people without such basic data?
Articles on Census 2021
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The ABS is exploring whether and how to ask questions on gender, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics.
The good news? Jobs are now less likely to be segregated by gender. Yet even now, some professions remain 99% male and 97% female.
City planning needs up-to-date data on where people work, how they get to work and how far they travel. Normally the census provides that, but this time round our biggest cities were in lockdown.
According to the 2021 Census there are now almost one million Indigenous people in Australia. Although increase in population is a reason for this, there are some other factors to consider.
The census’s much-discussed “average Australian” has shaky foundations
More than half of us are either born overseas or have a parent who was born overseas.
A growing, more diverse population, less religion, more First Nations people and a picture of the long-term health of Australians. But who’s doing the housework?
The census includes an increase in the number of people who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, but it lacks details about other ways they may identity and how they live.
We must redress the challenges of unpaid domestic work and the mental load on women’s physical, mental and economic health and well-being.
India is now the third-largest birthplace of Australian residents behind Australia and England, while for the first time less than half of the population has identified as Christian.
Switching web service providers and providing almost $40 million from the federal budget means the census 2021 website should be safe from crashing at the crucial time this evening.
Census 2021 is no ordinary population survey – it will lay the foundation for Australia’s post-pandemic future.
As the conversation about race and diversity becomes more common, why haven’t we updated our census to reflect that?
As the deadline looms, it’s important to understand how best to fill out the survey – and why.
Because of the pandemic, we know less about the shape and size of our society than we have for decades.
Who can see your information and why is it important to take part?
Polls predicted a ‘blue wave’ that didn’t materialize.
Australia lacks a coherent national approach to planning where settlement and growth happens. It’s time to take stock of our cities and regions and work together to improve outcomes across the nation.
Accurate data on Australians’ gender and sexual identity helps governments make good policy – and, importantly, ensures those communities are seen and recognised.
Top contributors
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Professor of Urban Policy and Director, Urban Futures Enabling Impact Platform, RMIT University
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Professor of Quantitative Social Geography, University of Bristol
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Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne
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Professor of Economics and Public Policy, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University
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Practitioner in Residence, The Henry Halloran Trust, University of Sydney
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Applied Ethics and CyberSecurity, Griffith University
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Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Lecturer in Geospatial Analysis, UCL
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ARC DECRA Fellow, Australian National University
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Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW
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Professor, Director Australian Urban Observatory, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University
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Senior Research Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University
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Professor and Academic Director (Indigenous Research), La Trobe University
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Demographer, POLIS Centre for Social Policy Research, Australian National University
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Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography, University of Oxford