Much of the media’s reporting of the Census debacle has focused on the political issues at play, rather than the substantive policy concerns, including that better data is vital for addressing health and other inequalities – for example, through the Government’s development of a 10 Year National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ people.
Now more than 100 peak bodies, health experts and community organisations have put the focus firmly on the health issues at stake, today releasing a joint statement that calls on the Federal Government to include three topic areas of gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation in the 2026 Census.
Signatories to an LGBTIQ+ Health Australia (LHA) joint statement include Suicide Prevention Australia, Mental Health Australia, Australian Health Promotion Association, People with Disability Australia, Allied Health Professions Australia, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia, WA Primary Health Alliance, North Western Melbourne PHN, and the Australian Physiotherapy Association, alongside leading LGBTIQ+ health, community and justice groups.
“The absence of relevant Census data for LGBTIQ+ populations means that health policy, programs and services cannot be accurately targeted, leading to increased healthcare costs and inefficient use of public resources,” says the statement.
“We ask all Members of Parliament to set aside political differences and focus on prioritising health and wellbeing above all else. Data is imperative for evidence-based policy, leading to better outcomes for all Australians.”
Nicky Bath, LHA CEO, said the joint statement had been developed to demonstrate that the inclusion of the proposed three topic areas of gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation in the 2026 Census, as planned prior to the Federal Government’s much criticised about-turn last week, is important to health and wellbeing sectors across Australia.
The Government has since shifted position, but given only public backing for one question on sexuality.
“The statement highlights that asking appropriate questions in the 2026 Census is crucial in fostering an evidence-informed environment for health and economic policy service planning and understanding health and social service utilisation, which is essential in addressing the significant health disparities that LGBTIQ+ people experience,” Bath said.
LHA is the national peak health organisation in Australia for organisations and individuals that provide health-related programs, services and research focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and other sexual orientation, gender and bodily diverse people.
It said the statement’s supporters included stakeholders with expertise spanning across mental health, suicide prevention, social services, disability, ageing and aged care, sexual family and domestic family violence, human rights, and research, demonstrating “the broad cross-sectoral support and need for collecting this data”.
It is urging other organisations to sign the statement here.
Below is the full statement.
Joint Statement in support of the inclusion of three new topics on gender, variations of sex characteristics, and sexual orientation variables into the 2026 Census
We, the undersigned, call on the Commonwealth Government to end the current uncertainty and unhelpful discourse about the introduction of three new topics on gender, innate variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation into the 2026 Census and allow the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to do its job and complete its processes.
The ABS developed the Standard for Sex, Gender, Variation of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020 (‘2020 Standard’) to standardise the collection and dissemination of data relating to sex, gender, sex characteristics and sexual orientation.
These questions are not complicated and are already being used in some national and jurisdictional government and non-government studies and data sets.
In July this year, the National Health and Medical Research Council and Department of Health and Aged Care (responsible for implementation of the Medical Research Future Fund) released a Statement on Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation in Health and Medical Research.
The Statement aligns with the ABS 2020 Standard to promote the standardised collection and dissemination of statistical data to ensure that health and medical research produces an evidence base that is relevant to all people in Australia.
The absence of relevant Census data for LGBTIQ+ populations means that health policy, programs and services cannot be accurately targeted, leading to increased healthcare costs and inefficient use of public resources.
Meaningful inclusion of these topics in the Census is essential as there are no alternative data sources or solutions available to politicians, bureaucrats, researchers and health practitioners that meet the need for health and social planning. Census data is best placed to provide detailed socio-economic analysis, information on small geographic/regional areas and long-term trends.
We ask all Members of Parliament to set aside political differences and focus on prioritising health and wellbeing above all else. Data is imperative for evidence-based policy, leading to better outcomes for all Australians.
We call on the Australian Government to support the necessity of including all three topic areas. In the same way that asking a gender question will not collect information on sexual orientation and vice versa it is not possible to collect information on people with innate variations of sex characteristics through a question on gender or sexual orientation.
Only by asking separate questions on innate variations of sex characteristics, sexual orientation and gender will data on these populations be captured with meaning and purpose.
Australia must not lag behind other countries in recognising and addressing the needs of all through comprehensive and inclusive data collection.
See the full statement and list of signatories.
