The 2026 census questions on gender and sexual orientation that have been at the centre of a political brawl for the past week have been revealed to the ABC.
The federal government will include three questions on gender and sexual orientation in the 2026 census after backlash from the community.The 2026 census questions on gender and sexual orientation that have been at the centre of a political brawl for the past week have been revealed to the ABC, despite the Albanese government declining to release the details.
The government — and ABS — announced at short notice that it would not be proceeding with releasing the questions for testing amid reports of concerns at the top echelons of the government that they would start a culture war, and public commentary by senior ministers that there were concerns they would be divisive.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese subsequently relented and said there would be a question on sexual orientation, but suggestions have continued in the media that the questions were along the lines of "do you have the same genitals you were born with?" and that a question relating to a person's gender identity was "verbose, complicated, confusing and utterly impenetrable".
Dr Haire said there might be "minor tweaking of a word here and there" but they would essentially be based on the 2020 standard. She said when people spoke of testing the questions, "the kind of testing you might be talking about is — 'gay or lesbian, do we put them together or do they go on a separate line?'"
"For example, with the variations of sex characteristics, you want to make sure that it's people who are born with those conditions who are ticking that box. So you need a word in it like innate or born or diagnosed with.The prime minister overturns a decision earlier this week to omit a new question on sexuality being added to the national census, after several Labor MPs spoke out against the move.
2026 Lgbtqia+ Sexuality Gender Albanese Government Identity
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