Anthony Albanese says there will be a question in the census on sexuality, following days of backlash – including among Labor MPs – against the decision to ditch a proposal to include questions on gender and sexuality.
The prime minister told ABC Melbourne radio his government had not gone through the census questions “line by line” and it was for the Australian Bureau of Statistics to decide what was asked.
“They’re going to test for a new question, one question about sexuality, sexual preference,” he said.
“They’ll be testing, making sure as well that people will have the option of not answering it.”
The backflip came after almost a week of criticism over the decision, including from the government’s own backbench, as well as advocacy groups.
“My government has been focused on [cost of living],” Albanese said. “We haven’t sat down and gone through line by line, on what questions will be asked in the census in two years time, in 2026.
“That’s the job for the ABS.”
Albanese’s decree contradicted the assistant minister for treasury, Andrew Leigh, who said on Sunday there would be no changes to the 2026 census in this area.
Since Sunday several senior Labor frontbenchers, including Richard Marles and Murray Watt, backed in the decision, saying it was made in the interests of protecting social harmony by avoiding “divisive” debates.
The prime minister’s about-face referenced a single question on sexuality, which does not address gender identity or someone’s intersex status. The Greens announced on Friday its MPs would force a vote on the issue in the parliament, unless the government committed to including trans and intersex people in the questions.
The party can force the government to a vote through several mechanisms, including suspension of standing orders, or using the matter of public importance debate.
The Greens Brisbane MP, Stephen Bates, said without questions on gender, the census was still failing to count everyone and the prime minister’s “half a backflip” would hurt trans people.
“The queer community deserve more than policy on the run. They deserve concrete answers not half-measures or media drops.
“Will Labor stand by their election promise or trash yet another commitment to the queer community?”
Labor had this week faced a growing backbench revolt over the decision, including Macnamara MP Josh Burns publicly calling on his government to reconsider.
Burns’ declaration, which came after days of internal appeals to senior colleagues, was followed by Alicia Payne, Peter Khalil, Ged Kearney, Michelle Ananda-Rajah and Jerome Laxale also breaking ranks publicly. All face serious electoral threats from the Greens at the next election.
Burns also spoke to ABC radio Melbourne following Albanese and said he welcomed his leader’s comments.
“I think that they go to making sure people are counted, and I think that they go to the work that we’re doing to ensure that we are collecting the best data possible to feed into government services as part of the census,” he said.
Work began on the new questions in 2023, and wouldn’t be asked until the next census in 2026. The proposed questions would have asked about gender, sexual orientation and variation of sex characteristics. Other scrapped proposed questions included those on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural identity and people’s reasons for moving in the last year.
It remains unclear whether all the proposed changes put forward in December 2023 will be included or whether there will be just one question on sexual preference.
Victorian Liberal MP Keith Wolahan had added his voice to those calling for questions on sexuality and gender to be added to the 2026 census, saying he can’t see “the damage or the harm” in including them.
Wolahan told ABC Radio National he believed the more questions there were, the more useful the data obtained.
“I don’t see the harm in adding that. I know in other areas, like in asking who veterans are that that was only recently added, and that’s been really useful. So I think more data is always useful. And so I’m not sure what the dispute is or the concern is here from a government’s perspective.”
His Liberal colleague Aaron Violi told the ABC that questions on gender and sexuality would provide valuable data and should be included.
