Australia adds optional gender identity and sexual orientation questions to census

[IwantToRetire]

Australians for the first time can reveal their sexual orientation and whether they identify as a different gender than the one recorded at birth — contentious debut questions in the latest census that occurs every five years.

The 66-question census, held on Tuesday, Aug. 11, is the first under a center-left Labor Party government since 2011. The current Labor government backflipped to allow the questions after having dropped them temporarily two years ago as "divisive." Both questions are open to members of households 16 years of age and older.

The answer options for sexual orientation are straight, gay or lesbian, bisexual, don't know, prefer not to answer or a term of the respondent's choice that can be written in a designated blank space.

The options for the gender that the respondent currently identifies with that differs from that registered at birth are man, woman, nonbinary, prefer not to answer or another term that the respondent can provide.

The gender and sexual orientation questions are optional, along with a question on religion that has been included since the first census in 1911.

Labor had promised such questions about sexuality and gender would be included in the next census while campaigning ahead of the 2022 elections that brought the party to power after nine years out of government.

Full article https://uk.news.yahoo.com/australia-adds-optional-gender-identity-003544754.html

More information in census sounds helpful

Well they sound better questions than the UK census, and I agree, data is always helpful - as long as it's accurate.

I think information on the number of trans-identified people is useful. What is important is that the question is clear and easy to interpret, including for people with learning disabilities or who speak English as a second language. Otherwise you get overinflation of figures as we did in the UK census.

I just filled in that census form. There was no indication that the gender ID questions were optional.
In the space for feedback at the end of the form I said the questions indicate that Gender ID appears to be the state religion, and that reduces my faith in the intelligence and even the sanity of our leaders and bureaucrats.

The article doesn't make it clear whether there is to begin with a straightforward question about sex.

The UK census had that.

And then the question about identity. If they didn't ask about sex that is really bad.

There was a question about sex first.

That seems a weird comment to make

Good on you. My father has just filled it out and he wrote that if people are confused they should look down their knickers and the authorities should stop pandering to this nonsense. I told him he might end up being 'spoken to' but he's well out of fucks to give when it comes to the Albanese government.

I answered the gender question by writing "atheist".