Key Points
- The ABS provided ‘non-binary’ as an option in the 2021 Census to its sex question.
- It has now admitted that failed to capture meaningful results.
- The statistical body says it will talk with the community on how to approach the next Census.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has admitted its questions relating to people identifying as non-binary in last year’s Census failed to capture meaningful data and has vowed to do better at the next poll.
While the most recent Census was the first in Australia that allowed respondents to select something other than male or female as their sex by providing ‘non-binary’ as a third option, but there were no questions about how people identify.
It led to many people from the community criticising the approach, with some saying gender and sexuality should have been included in the information collected in the most recent Census.
A complaint has also been made against the ABS and the then-minister Michael Sukkar over alleged unlawful discrimination towards LGBTIQ+ people in the 2021 Census to the Australian Human Rights Commission by national LGBTIQ+ group Equality Australia, and NSW resident April Long.
Now, the ABS has revealed it does not believe the results from the 2021 non-binary sex category provided data of high enough quality to be used.
“This addition to the sex question did not yield meaningful data,” it said in a statement earlier this week.
Why was it an issue?
The non-binary sex option was marked on the Census form for 43,220 respondents or 0.17 per cent of the Australian population, the ABS said.
“Analysis indicates this number is not indicative of any single characteristic,” the ABS added.
“Responses show the concept of non-binary sex was not consistently understood and was perceived in different ways by different people.”
The results therefore could not be used as a measure of gender diversity, non-binary genders or trans populations, nor could it be used diverse sexualities, nor can it be interpreted as the number of people with variations of sex characteristics.
How have groups reacted?
Equality Australia said the Census asked “ill-fitting questions” which resulted in “junk data” that the ABS couldn’t use.
“The Census should count everyone properly. This ABS analysis proves LGBTIQ+ people were never afforded that opportunity,” its legal director Ghassan Kassisieh said.
April Long, a non-binary person, parent and partner, said they felt ignored by the Census.
“While 43,000 LGBTIQ+ people gave it their best shot, like my family, thousands of LGBTIQ+ people and rainbow families were simply ignored by the failure to ask appropriate questions about us and our lives,” they said.
The ABS said it would evaluate last year’s Census to inform the 2026 Census, speak to the community and stakeholders on topic changes, and make recommendations to the federal government.
In previous statements, the ABS said there was limited capacity to add new topics without removing others from this important data collection.
“Sexual orientation and gender identity topics were offered to the government to consider for inclusion, accompanied by information about known need, potential risk and potential data quality," the agency said.
Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh, whose portfolio the ABS falls under, told SBS News in July: "the former government did not consult Labor and failed to adequately consult the LGBTIQ+ community".
