I’m not sure either of our major political parties covered themselves in glory during last week’s debate over new census questions.

Federal Labor, for walking back a commitment to include questions on sex, gender and sexual orientation. The federal Liberals, through Peter Dutton, for labelling proposals to do so as ‘woke’.

While Mr Dutton’s channelling of Trumpian orthodoxy was no surprise, the arguments put forward by some Labor figures were more curious. Senior government ministers suggested including these questions would lead to a divisive debate. Which I read as meaning, post-Voice, Labor didn’t want to look like it had its eyes off the ball in the leadup to next year’s federal election. 

To be fair to the government and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there is much to consider in the design of questions in this space. Not everyone in the community has the same level of understanding of the differences between sex, gender and sexuality. And there may be unintended consequences in asking young LGBTQIA+ people to identify themselves, particularly if they are living at home and not out to their parents. Then, there are older queer folk with memories of a more intense era of discrimination, who may be reluctant to flag themselves.

But, it’s hard to resource services for LGBTQIA+ Australians, without knowing how many of us there are. So, let’s hope both major parties, and the Greens, are committed to finding a workable way through.

 This article also appeared in The West Australian newspaper. 

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