There are renewed calls for the federal government to include LGBTIQ+ questions in the 2026 census after it was confirmed no changes would be made.
Nicky Bath, CEO of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, has outlined the consequences of the decision in a public letter after Labor said it would not include a question about sexuality and gender diversity.
Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles told journalists on Wednesday the government has opted not to ask about sexual orientation in the 2026 questionnaire.
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Bath has penned letters to Labor MPs to ask for an explanation over the decision and called for LGBTIQ+ Australians to be acknowledged in the next census.
She has also asked MPs to advocate with LGBTIQ+ Health Australia to address the health and wellbeing disparities faced by this community.
"The government has provided no public explanation of its decision, which has been made without adequate transparency and accountability," Bath said in her letter.
"LGBTIQ+ people are recognised as a priority population across a range of national health strategies, with significant health and wellbeing disparities compared with the broader Australian population. However, there continues to be a lack of coordination and action."
Bath noted it is important to include data regarding gender diversity and sexuality in Australia for effective health planning and government health funding.
She said census data information Australian queer communities would be the only meaningful data source to achieve this.
On Sunday, Bath said the decision by the Albanese government to not add questions counting LGBTIQ+ Australians in the next census was "shameful".
"This is a devastating and baffling decision that will retain the significant data gaps needed to address the pervasive health and wellbeing disparities that we continue to live with," she said in a statement.
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Dr Morgan Carpenter, CEO of Intersex Human Rights Australia, said the lack of questions about sexuality means the community "won't have good, reliable data on the health and circumstances of people with innate variations of sex characteristics".
She described the current line of questioning in the past census as collecting data that is "meaningless" for LGBTIQ+ Australians.
The next opportunity for the census to add questions about the LGBTIQ+ community would be 2031.
Marles said Labor's decision to not add the new topic was "because we do not want to open up divisive debates in the community now".
