Australia’s decision not to include new questions on gender and sexual orientation in its next census sparked heated debate on Thursday, with warnings that LGBTQ citizens may boycott the count.
The country’s centre-left government has abandoned tentative plans to question Australians about their sexual and gender identity for the first time in 2026.
Proponents hoped the questions would provide a more accurate picture of who Australians are and who they like.
But Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said on Thursday the decision was made to avoid an ugly and potentially divisive public debate.
“We have seen how these issues can be weaponised against members of our community and we don’t want to see that happen,” Chalmers told public broadcaster ABC.
“The census is not the only opportunity to collect this kind of data.”
However, some have expressed anger at the turnaround.
Sydney Independent MP Alex Greenwich said not counting the numbers correctly would be “deeply hurtful” to a section of the population “who have been in the closet for years”.
“If this decision stands, the government can expect that LGBTQ people and our families will not participate in the next census,” he warned.
Anna Brown, CEO of human rights advocacy group Equality Australia, said the idea that census questions would threaten social cohesion was “frankly absurd”.
“What the government is telling us is that we are not worth having difficult conversations for, and they are dumping us in the too-difficult basket,” she said.
arb/fox