Review of 2021 Census Topics

This submission seeks the collection of data on sex, gender and sexual orientation in the 2021 Census.

The collection of this data will be used to support policy-making and service planning that can meet the needs of people from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) communities. For example, the Aged Care Diversity Framework identifies the requirement to provide care that meets a person’s individual diverse needs. To achieve this there is a need to collect LGBTI demographic data and LGBTI indicators within the Australian Census.
Lack of data about LGBTI people puts this cohort of Australians at a significant disadvantage in terms of enabling policy makers and service delivery agencies to accurately predict where resources including healthcare and aged care targeting the LGBTI population may be required. Only the Census can provide the ability to identify small target populations for accurate information to inform government policy making and long-term planning, as no alternative source of information is currently available or likely to be available in the near future.

The collection of this data is required of the whole population to support meaningful analysis of data resulting from the collection of sex, gender and sexual orientation. Previous data collections, such as the ABS General Social Survey, have resulted in very low levels of reporting on LGBTI-related questions. To ensure the data is able to be used to support the development of policies and programs to support the LGBTI community this data will need to be robust and collected from the whole Australian population.

The collection of data on sex, gender and sexual orientation are suited to the self-reporting mode of data collection used in the Census. As with any new question, there may be some confusion from respondents who are not familiar with the LGBTI community however the question construction will mitigate this. Those who are cognisant of the importance of the issue and to whom the questions are particularly relevant will have no difficulties in providing answers.

This topic is considered to be acceptable to Census respondents.
The collection of this data is recognised as important in the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender (Department of the Attorney General, 2013) which states:
“The Australian Government recognises that individuals may identify and be recognised within the community as a gender other than the sex they were assigned at birth or during infancy, or as a gender which is not exclusively male or female. This should be recognised and reflected in their personal records held by Australian Government departments and agencies. “
While it is arguable that the collection of data on sex, gender and sexual orientation may be seen by some as an invasion of privacy, the option for individual respondents to request an individual survey mitigates many of these concerns. It should also be noted that in the early days of capturing indicators around a person’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, similar concerns of appropriateness to be asked what was then deemed a personal issue were raised but subsequently resolved. The results from the 2017 postal survey on amending the Marriage Act to include same-sex marriage suggests that responding to these questions is no longer as stigmatised as in previous Census consultation periods.
Consultations with LGBTI stakeholders by the Department of Health indicate that as a group who have a history of being discriminated against, addressing the lack of data on basic information about who they and how they identify themselves is a core focus of LGBTI communities and they are likely to want to support mechanisms for increased collection of such information.

The limited number of responses to each of these questions ensures they are able to be collected efficiently. As the ABS has experience in collecting similar data the development of questions will not place a significant burden on the survey development process.

As these data enable reporting on distinct population subgroups there is a continuing need for data on this topic.

The Census is the sole source of robust population-level data that can support the needs of the LGBTI community. Some Australian Government administrative data collections collect these data, however this data is only sourced from specific sub-groups of the population and is not able to be utilised effectively. Whilst the General Social Survey collects some data on LGBTI status, and the previous Census included data on same-sex partners, neither collection covers this topic adequately to support the needs of the LGBTI community.