The 2021 Census

Completing the 2021 Census, a guide for trans people in NSW

This guide covers:

- What the Census is

- How the updated ABS standards affect the Census

- Deciding how you want to fill out the Census

- What selecting ‘non-binary sex’ will mean

- Names and the Census

What is the Census?

The Census is a 5 yearly survey of the entire country, run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Census data inform policy, funding and economic decisions, and are used to plan local services and programs.

The question about ‘sex’ is important as it is used to devise population estimates for the country. Unfortunately, the 2016 Census, made selecting a non-cis gender difficult, and couldn’t account for intersex people either, so as a result reported only 1,260 ‘sex and/or gender diverse people in Australia’, when we know there are many more trans and intersex people than that in NSW alone.

The ABS and gender data collection

Change is coming: Earlier this year, the ABS released The Standard for Sex, Gender, Variation of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables 2020 (the Standard), a new best practice for collecting data about our communities in Australia.

Despite this Standard, the 2021 Census does not reflect this, and instead Question 7 includes “Male”, “Female” and “Non-binary sex” on the paper survey, and for the online survey a link to select an additional “Non-binary sex” is available.

Many community members have been asking how to fill out the Census in a way that is both affirming and counts them accurately. So how should we fill out the Census?

Our message is, this Census won’t count us properly but is still compulsory - do what feels right for you

Selecting ‘Non-binary sex’ for Q7

While there is a ‘Non-binary sex’ option available for Question 7, this option:

- Does not properly collect the genders of trans people, particularly trans women and trans men.

- Will be randomly assigned to ‘Male’ or ‘Female’ for most Census data releases, unless a binary option is also selected.

- Will be presented in a separate Census analytical article to be published in late 2022.

- Will not be included in the main Census data release.

On the next slide we talk about what some options for filling out your Census form might be.

How to fill out your Census form

A person can select one response to Question 7, or they can select more than one response (‘Male’ and ‘Non-binary sex’, or ‘Female’ and ‘Non-binary sex’).

Unfortunately, there is no single recommendation that will work for everyone filling out the Census.

Our recommendation is to fill out the Census in the most affirming way that feels right for you. This may look like:

- Selecting the binary option that aligns with your gender if you are a binary trans person, or are aligned in some way with a binary identity.

- Selecting both a binary option and ‘Non-binary sex’, and writing in your preferred gender label.

- Selecting only ‘Non-binary sex’, and writing in your preferred gender label.

There is no right or wrong way for the trans community to answer this question, and we look forward to future data collection that does not simplify the beautiful complexity of our communities and identities.

No matter the results or reporting of the Census, ACON and other health organisations around the country will continue to advocate for funding, programs and support for the trans community, one which we know is large, incredible, and deserving of care and resources.

Names and the Census

You can use a name on the Census that is most affirming for you. The name you share is used to help with data integration, as a piece of a bigger de-identified data puzzle but you don’t have to use a ‘legal name’. Some Census fields are linked for analysis purposes, such as location or date of birth to tell us the age ranges of people in our local communities, names aren’t used for this purpose though and the ABS separates names from every other piece of data provided in the Census. So even if they wanted to, the ABS wouldn’t even be able to report on, for instance, how many Karens live in Wagga. The ABS is much more interested in following people up who haven’t responded to the Census at all.

More info about data integration is here - https://www.abs.gov.au/about/data-services/data-integration

Our friends at LGBTIQ+ Health Australia have produced an FAQ and also hosted a webinar with the ABS, check it out at https://www.lgbtiqhealth.org.au/census_webinar_and_faqs

If you have any questions or concerns about this information or about the census, you can get in touch with the Trans Health Equity team at transhub@acon.org.au, or direct your concerns to the Census Contact Centre on 1800 512 441 from 8am to 8pm.

Information about the Census is available in languages other than english, and you can find the full list at: census.abs.gov.au/contact