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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says a new question on sexual orientation will be tested for the next census, partly reversing a government decision that caused widespread backlash this week.
But advocates say the PM’s update isn’t clear enough, with no apparent commitment to the questions on gender identity and intersex status that are needed too.
On Friday morning, Anthony Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne a new sexuality question was a “commonsense position”.
“We’ve been talking with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and they are going to test for a new question, one on sexuality,” he said.
“They’ll be testing, making sure as well that people will have the option of not answering it.”
The PM said the census will ask the question “as long as the testing goes well.”
Speaking to ABC Radio, Anthony Albanese said he’s been overseas and attempted to distance himself from the backlash over the decision, which was first confirmed on Sunday.
‘Don’t pick and chose those of us worthy of being counted’
But while LGBTQIA+ advocates welcome a sexual orientation census question, they say the Prime Minister didn’t make clear the status of other topics counting trans and gender diverse people and intersex Aussies.
“We welcome the inclusion of a sexual orientation question but the national snapshot of our nation must include all of us, not just some of us,” Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said.
“The federal government shouldn’t pick and choose those of us who are worthy of being counted.
“Trans and gender diverse people and those with innate variations of sex characteristics deserve to be recognised as much as anyone else.
“It would be a shame if the government doesn’t trust the Australian public enough to accept that the census needs to gather basic data about our nation for it to be meaningful and useful.
“These are sensible and pragmatic changes that will simply mean governments and other service providers have the data they need to make sound decisions. There is widespread support for these new questions from across the parliament.
“Including LGBTIQ+ people in the census simply brings Australia into line with countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Scotland and New Zealand that already count our communities.”
Greens say PM ‘panicked by criticism’
Greens LGBTQIA+ spokesperson Stephen Bates said his party now plans to force a vote on the issue in the parliament.
“The community has been asking for this Census change for years. Labor must do the bare minimum and implement it,” he said.
Stephen Bates claimed that Labor’s “broken promises” make it “clear they couldn’t care less about LGBTIQA+ Australians”.
“And now the Prime Minister, panicked by criticism this week, is trying to split the queer community down the middle,” he said.
“If we don’t keep the pressure up Albanese will keep on feeding us scraps and half measures. They need to count us in, all of us, gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex and everything in between.
“It’s all well and good for some Labor MPs to break rank [and criticise the government] on social media. But will they cross the floor in Parliament when it counts?”
Opposition leader Peter Dutton slammed for ‘woke’ census sledge
Meanwhile, Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been criticised for his take on the census controversy.
“I think the set of questions that we’ve got at the moment, the long-term way in which we’ve collected this data, has stood us well as a country,” he said on Thursday.
“If you’ve got the woke agenda, which I think is at odds with the vast majority of Australians, then the Prime Minister should argue that case. But I think we’re pretty happy with the settings that we’ve got in place at the moment.”
But LGBTIQ+ Health Australia CEO Nicky Bath said
“From this commentary, it appears that, he has forgotten that LHA and other stakeholders worked with the Morrison government and the Australian Bureau of Statistics to create the 2020 Standard for Sex, Gender, Variation of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables.
The then government supported [that standard] being included in all government national health and wellbeing surveys.
“I am surprised that Mr Dutton is not considering the economic impact to the nation, of not collecting the best possible data to make sound fiscal resourcing decisions, for health and wellbeing services planning.
“I think people living in Australia support good healthcare for all and not just for some.
“Rather than blaming so called woke agendas, Mr Dutton would be better to be asking what the financial cost will be of suboptimal health and wellbeing services and program planning if these four simple questions are not asked.”
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