First LGBTQ+ Data From Census To Be Released June 2027

Australia will get its first official overview of the LGBTQIA+ community when new sexual orientation and gender identity data from the 2026 Census is released in June 2027.

It’ll be the first time sexual orientation and gender data have been collected in the Census, after years of campaigning efforts by LGBTQIA+ advocates.

ABS 2026 census three-phase release plan

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its 2026 Census Topics and Data Release plan, outlining a three-phase timeline for sharing the results.

Under the new ABS schedule, the first release will happen in June 2027, and will include more core topics, including new sexual orientation and gender data; the second in October 2027, will have a smaller amount of subjects, such as employment and workplace location; and the final third release will take place sometime between early to mid-2028, which will have complex topics, such as distance to work and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA).

The three-part release schedule is designed to allow time to process results and carry out quality assurance, while still delivering results within a year of Census night.

For the first time, the 2026 Census will ask Australians aged 16 and over about both their sexual orientation and their gender, in addition to a separate question on sex recorded at birth. The gender question will include tick-box options and space for self-description, along with a “prefer not to answer” option. A separate sexual orientation question will ask how people describe their sexuality.

“Our communities live in every corner of the country, contributing in countless ways. Just imagine the insights and opportunities that will emerge when we finally have more accurate and meaningful data in 2027,” said Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown.

The new questions follow discussion in recent years on LGBTQIA+ data in the census.

The struggle of LGBTQIA+ representation

In 2024, the federal government decided against including questions about gender, sexual orientation, or sex characteristics in the 2026 Census. This decision caused community upset, with Equality Australia describing it as a betrayal.

“We still know so little about LGBTQ+ Australia because the 2021 Census failed to meaningfully count people of diverse sexualities and genders, and our families,” said Brown.

Following public outrage and criticism, the Albanese Government reversed its decision. It confirmed that questions on sexual orientation and gender identity would be included in the 2026 Census, although people with variations in sex characteristics will still not be explicitly counted.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have been rendered invisible or misrepresented in national data sets, undermining effective service delivery by health providers, government departments and businesses that rely on accurate census information,” said Brown.

“In 2027 we will finally have a more complete picture of who we are as a nation, including where LGBTQ+ adults live, what our jobs are, our health issues, where we go to school and what our families look like.”