CANBERRA — Australia has included optional questions on gender identity and sexual orientation in its 2026 national census for the first time, with people aged 16 and over able to decline to answer, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
The census, held on Tuesday, asks respondents aged 16 and older how they currently identify or express their gender, alongside a separate question on sexual orientation. The gender question offers the choices man, woman, non-binary, another term that respondents can specify, and “prefer not to answer.”
The census itself remains compulsory for everyone in Australia on Aug. 11, under the Census and Statistics Act 1905. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, or ABS, has clarified that the gender and sexual-orientation questions contain a “prefer not to answer” option.
The gender question is separate from the question on sex recorded at birth, which has been part of every Australian census since 1911. In 2026, the ABS revised that question to refer specifically to sex recorded at birth and added an “another term” option for people whose birth registration did not record them as male or female.
The ABS said the new questions are intended to provide a clearer picture of Australia's LGBTQ+ population and improve planning for health and community services. Responses to the sex-at-birth and gender questions will also allow statisticians to produce data on transgender and gender-diverse populations.
The agency said the questions followed public consultation and extensive testing across different population groups and regions. Testing found broad understanding of the distinction between sex and gender, while allowing respondents to decline to answer helped address concerns about the questions, the ABS said.
The inclusion of the questions followed a political dispute in 2024, when the government initially decided not to include questions on gender and sexual orientation before reversing that decision. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at the time that the questions would be optional and limited to people over 16.
The 2026 census contains 66 questions overall. The ABS expects the first census data to be released from June 2027, after processing and statistical assessment.
