Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles, has defended the government’s decision to exclude questions related to gender, sexual orientation, and diverse sex characteristics from the upcoming census.
The absence of such questions in the 2021 census had previously led the Australian Bureau of Statistics to issue an apology after LGBTQ+ individuals expressed feeling “hurt, stress, anguish, and other negative reactions” due to the lack of recognition of their identities. This omission had left many feeling “invisible and excluded.”
In response to these concerns, plans were initially made to include questions on gender, sexual orientation, and variations of sex characteristics in the next census. Additionally, revisions were proposed for existing questions to collect more comprehensive data, including information on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles reiterated the Labor government’s decision to exclude these proposed questions from the upcoming census. This confirmation followed an earlier announcement by Assistant Treasury Minister Andrew Leigh.
Marles explained that the decision was taken to prevent the possibility of triggering divisive debates within the community. “We’ve seen how divisive debates have played out across our country, and the last thing we want to do is inflict that debate on a sector of our community right now,” he stated. “That’s why we are, broadly speaking, sticking with the set of questions that were used in the last census.”
He underscored the government’s priority of collecting valuable data for the nation while ensuring social cohesion. “We want the census to gather as much useful data for our country as possible,” Marles added. He stressed that the government’s approach aims to maintain a smooth census process, focused on obtaining relevant information without inciting controversy.
Despite this, the decision has drawn strong criticism from politicians, activists, and LGBTQ+ and human rights groups. They argue that excluding these questions renders the LGBTQ+ community invisible in official statistics and impedes the development of policies that could support them. Nonetheless, Marles stood firm on the government’s stance, emphasising the need for a balanced approach to the census.
