







































AUSTRALIAN POPULATION STUDIES  2021 | Volume 5 | Issue 1 | pages 40-48 

 

 

© Lyons et al. 2021. Published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence 3.0 Australia  
(CC BY-NC 3.0 AU). Journal website: www.australianpopulationstudies.org 

Commentary 

Counting gender and sexual identity in 
the Australian census 

Anthony Lyons*  La Trobe University 

Mary Lou Rasmussen  Australian National University 

Joel Anderson  La Trobe University and Australian Catholic University 

Edith Gray  Australian National University 

* Corresponding author. Email: a.lyons@latrobe.edu.au. Address: Australian Research Centre in Sex, 

Health and Society, School of Psychology and Public Health, Building NR6, La Trobe University, 

Bundoora, Victoria, 3086, Australia. 

Paper received 12 February 2021; accepted 27 April 2021; published 31 May 2021 

1. Introduction 

The Australian Census of Population and Housing (hereafter referred to as the ‘census’), serves as an 

important barometer of the nation. In this article, we outline why it is so important to include 

comprehensive gender and sexual identity questions in the census as well as several considerations 

that ought to be addressed in the course of including such questions. The census provides a count for 

electoral representation, informs government and non-government policies and services, and 

ultimately reveals who we are as a nation, how the population changes over time, and how the 

diversity of Australia’s relatively small population is spread across a vast landmass. It also serves as an 

important resource for numerous other surveys by providing a complete count of the population to 

inform sampling and weighting of data and thus enabling population representative data gathering. For 

these and other reasons, it is crucial that the census captures as much of the diversity in Australia’s 

population as possible. Without this knowledge, important subpopulations are rendered invisible and 

initiatives to collect representative data of these populations in other surveys are severely limited, if 

not impossible. Australia’s gender and sexually diverse population is one such population that is not 

fully counted. 

2. Including gender and sexual identity in the census 

2.1. What we mean by gender and sexual identity questions 

Surveys conducted in Australia reveal a large diversity in gender and sexual identity (Hill et al. 2020; 

Leonard et al. 2012). Although representative data are lacking, estimates of the size of Australia’s 

gender and sexually diverse population broadly range from 3.5% to 11%, or 900,000 to 2.8 million 

(Department of Health 2012; Wilson et al. 2020; Zhang et al. 2020). This includes people who identify 

with one or more diverse sexual identities, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or queer. It also 

includes people who are trans and gender diverse, including non-binary genders. Despite this, 

population surveys, including the census, rarely involve comprehensive questions on gender and 

 

http://www.australianpopulationstudies.org/
mailto:a.lyons@latrobe.edu.au


Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 Lyons et al. 41 

 

 

sexual identity that would enable identification of the many different gender and sexual identity 

populations living in Australia (Lyons et al. 2020). 

In simple terms, we refer to gender and sexual identity questions as demographic variables. In other 

words, these are questions where people have the opportunity to report their gender, such as 

woman, man, trans woman, trans man, or non-binary, and separately from this, their sexual identity, 

such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, or queer. Gender and sexual identities comprise significant 

elements of a person’s background that define and shape many aspects of their lives, such as raising 

families, employment, and engagement with services (Hill et al. 2020). These identities are important 

aspects of Australia’s diversity that need to be captured in population surveys. 

By gender, we refer to how people identify or describe themselves. This is an important distinction, 

as the terms ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are typically conceptualised in different ways despite often being 

treated as though they were synonymous (e.g., Connell 2002; Hammarström and Annandale 2012). 

As an example, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently published a Standard for Sex, 

Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables (ABS 2021). This standard 

is aligned with guidelines from the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department 

(Australian Government 2013) and outlines sex and gender in distinct ways. The standard utilises the 

term ‘sex’ to refer to biological characteristics. This is most commonly assigned to an individual at 

birth, usually male or female, or may be recorded differently in some instances when a variation in 

their sex characteristics is evident. In contrast, the term ‘gender’ is used to refer to how a person 

describes themselves, which may not necessarily align with the sex assigned to them at birth. For 

instance, a person who is trans may have been assigned female at birth but describe themselves as, 

and importantly are, a man. As shown by the recent Private Lives 3 national survey, many people in 

Australia also describe themselves in different ways, such as neither exclusively male nor female 

(e.g., non-binary; Hill et al. 2020).  

The term, ‘sexual identity’, typically refers to how a person experiences or expresses themselves 

sexually or romantically (Durso and Gates 2013), which includes diverse identity labels such as 

lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, heterosexual, and queer. The term ‘sexual orientation’ is usually 

used as a broader application to refer to different components of sexuality, which can include sexual 

identity, sexual behaviour, and sexual attraction (Katz-Wise 2015). For example, people who engage 

in sex with someone of the same sex might describe themselves in different ways, such as lesbian, 

gay or bisexual. While different components of sexual orientation are important to consider, sexual 

identity is the more common focus. Though depending on the particular focus of a survey (e.g., a 

survey of sexual behaviour), researchers might need to know about identity, behaviour, and 

attraction. 

It is worth noting that this account of conceptual distinctions is somewhat simplified for the purposes 

of this article. Extensive theoretical and conceptual work have been conducted over many years and 

decades. For example, arguments have been made to suggest that gender and sexual identity are not 

always inseparable (Butler 2006). However, for the purposes of this article, a main point to note is 

that ‘sex’, ‘gender’, and ‘sexual identity’ are terms that have particular shared meanings and 

distinctions, which need to inform the framing of gender and sexual identity questions.  

  



42 Lyons et al. Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 

 

2.2. Why it is essential these data are collected in Australia 

Australia’s diverse gender and sexual identity population continues to experience stigma-related 

harm (Hill et al. 2020) and faces numerous significant social and health-related burdens such as 

physical and mental health challenges (Perales 2019), suicidality (Raifman et al. 2020), family-related 

challenges (Perales et al. 2019), discrimination and victimisation (Hill et al. 2020), homelessness (Hill 

et al. 2020; Hill et al. 2021), poverty (Hill et al. 2020), and barriers to accessing services (Alba et al. 

2020). Critical differences are also apparent between subpopulations in the extent to which 

particular burdens are experienced, such as differences between those who are cisgender and trans 

or bisexual and pansexual (Hill et al. 2020). Gathering comprehensive population-level data is 

therefore crucial. It is only with such data that policies and services can be designed and targeted 

effectively to areas of need. Data collection also needs to be repeated regularly to enable monitoring 

of the progress of initiatives and to thus allow necessary adjustments to be made in policy settings 

and service delivery. 

Significant social change has occurred over recent decades, with associated shifts in understandings 

and expressions of gender and sexuality. As mentioned earlier, gender and sexuality are integral 

aspects of people’s lives and it is not possible to have a truly informative picture of the nation 

without having data that reflects this diversity. Recognising the significant implications to social, 

health, and economic outcomes, Australia’s gender and sexually diverse population is identified as a 

key priority group in government strategies around the country. Examples include the Federal 

Government’s Aged Care Diversity Framework, the forthcoming Victorian LGBTIQ+ Strategy, Western 

Australia’s WA LGBTI Health Strategy and the Australian Capital Territory’s Capital of Equality 

Strategy. However, effectively operationalising and monitoring the progress of these and other 

strategies and policies depend on the continued availability of comprehensive data of gender and 

sexual identity. In addition to ensuring the knowledge required to address significant national 

challenges, gathering comprehensive data on gender and sexual identity via population research is 

fundamental to understanding the demography of the nation. 

2.3. Why these data should be collected in the Australian census 

The Australian census is vital to providing essential information about Australia’s population. The 

data collected in the census is used by a wide range of individuals and organisations in public, private 

and not-for-profit sectors to make informed planning and policy decisions for all Australians. A major 

strength of the census is its coverage: it includes the whole population of Australia, thereby providing 

the data required to cover small geographic areas and population groups that may be otherwise 

missed, or misrepresented, in smaller surveys. While a broad range of information is collected about 

people that is useful for identifying communities, information that would enable a comprehensive 

count of gender and sexually diverse populations is currently not collected. In 2018, it was 

announced that eight new topics would be tested for inclusion in the 2021 Census. These eight topics 

included ‘non-binary sex and/or gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ (ABS 2018). These topics 

were developed following extensive public consultation but were later dropped from testing.  

Despite this, the public consultation process identified the value of collecting comprehensive 

information on gender and sexual identity in the census. The process found that gender and sexually 

diverse communities often have higher levels of vulnerability including experiences of discrimination, 



Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 Lyons et al. 43 

 

 

abuse and mental health issues that require targeted support, and that information collected via the 

census would help to inform the development of policy, allocation of resources and delivery of 

services to people from these communities (ABS 2020). Despite the decision not to proceed with 

questions in the next census, as mentioned earlier the ABS has since released a new Standard for 

Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables (ABS 2021), which was 

developed through research, consultation, and testing, and could potentially serve as a foundation or 

starting point for the future inclusion of questions in the census. While specific questions for the 

census would need to be identified, not having these data collected in the census renders these 

communities invisible in national statistics. Service providers are left in the unenviable position of 

having to make educated guesses about where to best put their resources. While some information 

can be gleaned from survey data, there are no benchmarks which can be used to create sample 

weights for these surveys. As mentioned earlier, census data are required for population estimates 

that reflect Australia’s gender and sexual identities. This would enable population representative 

surveys to be conducted in areas not directly examined by the census, such as surveys of health, in 

addition to providing valuable knowledge on topics directly examined in the census, such as housing, 

income, employment, and family circumstances. 

2.4. Potential issues to consider in asking comprehensive questions of sex, gender, and 

sexual identity 

There are at least several considerations that need to be taken into account in identifying census 

questions on gender and sexual identity. A small but important literature has empirically analysed 

the consequences for not asking questions about sex, gender and sexual identity correctly. The 

literature on this topic has debated both strengths and limitations in the specific framing of 

questions, including the associated response options (Lyons et al. 2020; Sullivan 2020; Waite and 

Denier 2019). How these questions are framed might appear inconsequential, but subtle differences 

can result in different interpretations, and thus potentially different responses, by respondents. For 

instance, prescriptive terminology in questions on sexual identity (e.g., ‘Are you…’ rather than ‘how 

do you identify…’) might result in respondents feeling obliged to select from identities that are more 

commonly used and understood, rather than allowing themselves to self-identify more freely.  

Relatedly, it is important to highlight that how questions are asked by survey designers can frame the 

social categories that are valued and recognised in society. More specifically, it is argued that how 

questions are framed produces a ‘social reality’ (Law et al. 2011), where a population is defined or 

generated by the question and its response options. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of survey 

designers to think carefully about how they craft gender and sexual identity questions, the response 

options they choose to provide, and how they explain to survey respondents what is being asked of 

them. For example, asking a question where respondents indicate their sex might conceivably be 

answered in differing ways, such as the sex assigned to them at birth, their current sex (which may 

be different to that assigned to them at birth, such as those with a trans history), or their gender. In 

the absence of clear framing and explanation, respondents may be left to subjectively interpret these 

questions. Reflecting current best practice, the ABS has recommended in its latest Standard for Sex, 

Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation to apply specific question wording, 

such as “What was your sex recorded at birth?” and potentially asking respondents to indicate their 

gender in a separate question (ABS, 2021).   



44 Lyons et al. Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 

 

As noted elsewhere (e.g., Lyons et al. 2020), there is debate about the advantages and disadvantages 

of allowing participants to respond with open ended questions, about the use of ‘other’ categories, 

and about single- versus multi-select answers. It is important to recognise that, contrary to often-

held beliefs, gender and sexual identity are neither simple nor synonymous constructs, and that 

often individuals need to be able to select combinations of identities (for further discussion, see 

Lyons et al. 2020; Ruberg and Ruelos 2020). Although this may present some challenges when 

designing questions, if a question cannot be answered in a way that reflects a person’s background, 

then the respondent is left with the choice of either not answering the question (and thus not being 

counted) or answering in a way that does not reflect them (thus undermining the integrity of the 

data). Therefore, it is not only important to include gender and sexual identity questions that better 

reflect Australia’s diverse population, but also give thought to how these questions are designed and 

the conclusions that might feasibly be drawn from the resulting data. Engaging in consultation with 

different communities and stakeholders as well as researching and testing approaches are therefore 

important initiatives to undertake prior to settling on an optimal design of questions that captures 

diversity as well as being understood by respondents. This could also include developing and testing 

approaches to ensure that respondents feel comfortable in answering the questions and thus 

minimising non-responses. It will also be important to review approaches over time to ensure that 

questions included in the census remain relevant to any future changes in sexual identity and gender 

categories. 

2.5. Are other countries doing work to gather similar information? 

Statistics New Zealand, in writing about their decision to incorporate more questions on sex, gender 

identity and sexual orientation in their next census, note that data that captures the diversity of this 

population in terms of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation has been very limited around the 

world. In New Zealand, the government has argued for the “‘gender by default’ principle … an 

approach that defaults to the collection of gender data as opposed to sex at birth…. Collection of sex 

at birth information should be viewed as an exception where there is a specific need” (Statistics New 

Zealand 2020). The New Zealand government is making this change because in “most cases a 

person’s gender – their social and personal identity – is most relevant for policy making and research 

rather than their sex at birth” (Statistics New Zealand 2020). The New Zealand government has also 

specified that questions, similar to those relating to ethnicity, are suitable for all people, regardless 

of their age.  

These issues are being treated quite differently in the United Kingdom. In December 2018, the Office 

for National Statistics (ONS), which is responsible for the census in England and Wales, set out its 

recommendations for the next census in the White Paper 'Help Shape our Future: The 2021 Census 

of Population and Housing in England and Wales' (ONS 2018). This White Paper gives the 

recommendation that the census includes, for the first time, a voluntary gender identity question, in 

addition to retaining a binary female/male sex question. The ONS also recommended introducing a 

new question enquiring about an individual’s sexual orientation, where they are aged 16 years and 

over. In this proposal, the sex question would remain unchanged and only people aged 16 years and 

over would have the opportunity to voluntarily complete a question related to their gender identity 

and sexual orientation. In 2022, the Scottish government will also ask everyone aged 16 years and 

over to voluntarily disclose their sexual orientation. Respondents will be presented the opportunity 



Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 Lyons et al. 45 

 

 

to identify themselves as ‘Straight/Heterosexual’, ‘Gay or Lesbian’, ‘Bisexual’ or ‘Other sexual 

orientation, please write in…’.  

In discussing parliamentary debates about the design of the Scottish census, Kevin Guyan argues that 

the decision to include a non-binary sex question “highlighted the existence of two schools of 

thought: one understood the census as an exercise in accurate, data collection; the other, 

understood the census as a method to construct and/or protect governable identity categories” 

(Guyan 2021 p. 6). The contested politics relating to how a census constructs governable categories is 

apparent when one looks at how decisions are made about how old a person can be before they can 

declare their gender identity. The age at which a person can legally obtain gender recognition 

internationally varies from, for example, no age limit in the Australian Capital Territory, British 

Columbia, and Argentina, to 18 years in New Zealand. Governments are clearly constructing 

governable identity categories when they are explicitly excluding young people from filling out the 

questions related to gender identity and sexual orientation. Guyan further notes that “any minor 

errors in the [census] count will likely have a disproportionately large effect on findings” (Guyan 

2021, p. 8) because LGBTQ populations are already a comparatively small percentage of the whole 

population. Consequently, the decision to determine participation by age may be one of the ‘minor 

errors’ that has explicit effects in determining the way in which these populations are counted in 

Scotland and elsewhere.  

2.6. How Australia might learn from others to address potential issues in collecting data 

related to sex, gender, and sexual identity 

Statistics New Zealand are endeavouring to be as capacious as possible in counting sex, gender and 

sexuality diversity within their population. This is evidenced by their inviting respondents of any age 

to answer sex and gender questions, incorporating Maori translations to describe gender and sex 

classifications, as well as moving away from terms like gender diverse toward the term “another 

gender”. They are also restricting use of the sex at birth question, following in the footsteps of 

Statistics Canada, arguing that this type of specific information is only required in the limited 

circumstances where there is a need to disaggregate cisgender and trans populations.  

Statistics New Zealand are also flagging that the current consultations on the census will need to be 

ongoing because the ways in which people understand sex, gender and sexual identity are constantly 

changing, citing the example of the term non-binary, which was little used at the time of the last 

census, but is now regularly deployed by community members (Veale et al. 2019). For Australian 

purposes, there needs to be similar recognition that issues related to counting sexual and gender 

identity will likely not be resolved in one attempt, but will require ongoing attention, in line with 

changes in community norms in this space. 

3. Concluding comments 

As other jurisdictions prepare to improve how they count gender and sexual identity in their 

censuses, such as New Zealand and Scotland, a strong case exists for Australia to do similarly and an 

opportunity exists to learn from the experiences of these countries. While continued work may be 

required to identify and adapt questions over time, it is an endeavour that has many important 

benefits. A more comprehensive account of the diversity of gender and sexual identity in Australia 



46 Lyons et al. Australian Population Studies 5 (1) 2021 

 

would not only provide the foundation for population representative research involving gender and 

sexually diverse populations, it would enable a more thorough and contemporary assessment of the 

nation’s demography. These are both critical to advancing the knowledge required to address 

significant challenges faced by Australia’s gender and sexually diverse population and thereby 

improve overall national social, health and economic outcomes.  

We have argued that it is important to take a range of considerations into account in formulating 

gender and sexual identity questions, such as the choice of response options and the wording of 

questions, as well as remaining cognisant that how these are framed will shape the data, including 

how specific sub-populations are understood. The recently released ABS Standard for Sex, Gender, 

Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables may serve as a helpful basis for 

further investigation and community consultation. This will be integral to identifying questions that 

satisfy the overall requirements of the census while providing an important and long overdue count 

of Australia’s diversity in relation to sex, gender and sexual identity. It is also important to consider 

whether questions related to sex, gender and sexual identity will require amendment at each census 

in order to keep pace with the rapid shifts occurring in Australia in this domain. 

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