The 2021 Census results have revealed key data about Australia's demographics - but there were no questions asked about gender and sexuality:
Software development manager Jeanene Williams came out as a transgender woman later in life.
The ABS said in 2019 that it made explicit recommendations to the then federal government on the topics “with the strongest case for inclusion in the 2021 Census” but went on to say, “the final selection of topics for inclusion in the 2021 Census is a decision for government”.
“We need evidence-based research and data that shows us how we should deliver the services we provide. And the Census forms a very important function, or it could provide a very important function of creating a baseline data set that all surveys and research can be based on.” “The Census data this week confirmed to us what we knew throughout COVID, is how poor the mental health was. But to not include the LGBTIQ+ data as a service provider, for me, means that we're left out of that picture. And then most frighteningly, it runs the risk of being left out of the response.”
“The second part of that question [non-binary and more details] would have fallen into that ‘hard to reach population’ because you needed to raise the literacy of the question around how people would answer it, including people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and they did not run a campaign to raise people's awareness of that question,” he said.