Albanese has 'tied himself in knots' over LGBTIQ+ Census questions, Liberal senator says

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg says it's reasonable for the Census to contain gender identity and sexual orientation questions as the saga over Australia's snapshot continues.

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has questioned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's leadership over the census issue. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

KEY POINTS

• The PM has faced backlash after it was revealed his government wouldn't include questions about the LGBTIQ+ community.
• On Friday, Albanese confirmed a single question about "sexuality, sexual preference" would appear on the next Census.
• Liberal senator Andrew Bragg said it would be reasonable to include questions on gender and sexual identity.

Anthony Albanese should back additional Census questions on gender and sexual identity, a Liberal senator says, as the prime minister insists Labor's stance on the issue has not changed.

Albanese has faced a backlash over the past week after it was revealed his government would not include such questions in the 2026 snapshot of Australia — abandoning a pre-election promise.

The move — which the government claimed was to avoid a "divisive debate" — drew swift criticism from LGBTIQ+ groups and advocates, experts, and some MPs including from within Albanese's party.

The prime minister backflipped on Friday and confirmed a single question about "sexuality, sexual preference" would appear on the next Census. The exact wording of this question is not yet clear, and there are concerns this approach will not adequately capture Australia's queer community.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the federal government is taking a "commonsense approach" to Census questions. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg on Sunday told the ABC's Insiders program he would like to see questions on both sexuality and gender identity.

"It’s been my view for a long time that gender identity and sexual orientation are reasonable questions to ask in a modern society," Bragg told Insiders.

"I think the fact the prime minister has tied himself in knots on this issue shows a great weakness in his own leadership."

Opposition leader Peter Dutton had initially backed a Census status quo and criticised what he labelled a "woke agenda" but then appeared to walk those comments back after Albanese's backflip, saying he was "fine" with adding gender and sexuality questions.

The queer community wants the government to ask about gender identity to adequately cover the number of trans and intersex people in Australia and use the information to make better-informed policy decisions.

But Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government was presented with "questions that were very complex in the census".

"We want people to complete the Census and we want simple questions that people can understand and answer, that's really important," Rishworth told Sky News on Sunday.

"The census isn't for another two years and I think we've got plenty of time to make sure that we get the question right."

Rishworth said there were other ways to collect data, which the government was doing as it worked through a decade-long plan on LGBTIQ+ health and wellbeing.

Albanese on Saturday insisted his party had not changed its Census question policy, saying the federal government was taking a "commonsense approach to these issues".

"It (the Census) is two years away and we'll work with the ABS," Albanese told reporters.

"But I think that commonsense would see that asking about sexual orientation is a commonsense thing to do."

With the Australian Associated Press.