Chalmers makes major census promise

The 2026 census will include questions on sexuality and gender, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed.

Following backlash over the government’s election to exclude such questions, breaking an election promis, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said late last month the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) was testing “a new question”.

Mr Chalmers, the minister responsible for the ABS, confirmed on Sunday the government was backflipping on its backflip.

“We’ll be adding a new topic which covers both sexual orientation and gender,” he told Insiders.

“That will be the first time in the 2026 census.”

He said the government had “listened to the community.”

“LGBTIQ+ Australians matter. They have been heard and they will count in the 2026 census,” the Treasurer said.

Mr Chalmers previously said he was worried questions could be “weaponised” in remarks justifying the government’s decision to exclude them.

He was lambasted by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Anna Cody, who called his comments “patronising”.

“We had good intentions and we listened to the community and we worked with the ABS and we said that we would find the best way through,” Mr Chalmers said on Sunday.

“We believe that in listening and in working with the ABS and the community and consulting in a really genuine way.”

The new questions, which the ABS produced with its LGBTIQ+ advisory committee, will only be asked of people 16 years and up, a government press release said.

Respondees will also have the option not to answer.

The ABS advised against questions on intersex status because testing showed “high quality data could not be collected due to the technical complexity of the topic”.

Intersex status refers to a person with physical, hormnonal or genetic features that are neither completely male or female.

The government will look into other ABS data gathering options on that topic.