Category Archives: Census

Labor’s 11th-hour decision on LGBTQ+ census questions prompted weekend scramble, documents reveal

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Australian Bureau of Statistics officers cancelled media briefings and social media promotion after Albanese government’s last-minute decision

The Albanese government’s last-minute rejection of proposed questions on sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming 2026 census sent bureaucrats into a weekend scramble, new documents show.

In the late hours of Friday 23 August and Saturday 24 August, officials at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) agreed to cancel a scheduled media briefing on Monday 26 August and the rollout of its “large-scale” test census to 50,000 households from Tuesday 27 August as a result of the 11th-hour decision.

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ABS warned Albanese government that excluding LGBTQ+ questions risked the success of census

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Australian Bureau of Statistics also told MP Andrew Leigh not including questions on sexual orientation and gender would do ‘damage’

The Albanese government was warned that excluding questions on sexual orientation and gender identity from the census could increase feelings of exclusion in the LGBTQ+ community and even risk the success of the data collection exercise, newly released documents reveal.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics raised concerns in ministerial submissions about strong public criticism to scrapping the proposed questions, potential “damage” to relationships with LGBTQ+ expert groups advising on the census and limitations in the quality of data the census collects.

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Guardian Essential poll: more voters blaming Albanese government for interest rate rises

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However poll shows majority back Labor’s plan to cap international students enrolments in tertiary education

More voters are blaming the Albanese government for interest rate rises but Labor appears to have hit the electoral sweet spot with its proposed cap on international student enrolments.

Those are the conclusions of the latest Guardian Essential poll of 1,132 voters conducted after a week of debate about whether the Reserve Bank should begin cutting interest rates due to extremely soft growth.

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Census questions on trans and gender diverse people ‘critical’ and not too complex, health institutes tell Labor

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Health bodies say the questions are needed to fill gaps in much-needed research

Leading health experts have criticised the federal government for suggesting proposed LGBTQI+ questions should be excluded from the census because they were “too complex” – arguing similar questions are already used elsewhere.

Versions of the proposed questions have been answered by 85,000 Australians in existing health surveys administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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Questions on gender and sex variations ‘too complex’ for census, social services minister Amanda Rishworth says

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It’s the third explanation government ministers have given since last Sunday, while Coalition senator Andrew Bragg says questions are ‘reasonable’

The social services minister has offered up the latest explanation for why proposed questions on gender and sex variations were dumped from the next census, claiming they were too complicated.

In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Amanda Rishworth gave a new reason for why new questions had been ditched from the census planning, saying the government had been shown “questions that were very complex in the census”.

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Sex discrimination commissioner urges Labor to reverse decision excluding gender and sexuality census questions

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Anna Cody worries the Albanese government’s backflip could ‘strengthen the voices of discrimination’

The sex discrimination commissioner has called on the Albanese government to put gender and sexuality questions in the census, as the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, appeared to open the door to revising the controversial decision to exclude them.

On Thursday Anna Cody wrote to the government warning backtracking on a commitment to ask about gender and sexuality “carries serious implications for the health, wellbeing and general equality of LGBTIQA+ Australians and their families”.

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‘Impossible’ to make policy for LGBTQ+ community without extra census questions, crossbenchers say

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Crossbench MPs demand explanation for government’s decision to drop proposed ABS questions about sexuality, gender diversity from census

Crossbench MPs are seeking an urgent explanation from the Albanese government about why it dumped new topics on sexuality and gender diversity from the next census – a decision that left the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras “deeply concerned and disappointed”.

The move, confirmed by the assistant minister for the Treasury, Andrew Leigh, on Sunday, comes more than a year after the Australian Bureau of Statistics issued its statement of regret over the distress felt by the LGBTQ+ community as a result of being left out of the census.

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Number of adults living with parents in England and Wales rises by 700,000 in a decade

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A large majority of those returning to the roost – or who never left it – are men, census data reveals

It is enough to make parents wonder: whatever happened to the bachelor pad?

At least 620,000 more grown-up children are now living with their parents than a decade ago – and most of those doing so are young men, census figures reveal.

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Can you predict which parts of Sydney will be next to gentrify?

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Researchers have developed a model which uses changes in the socioeconomic status of an area to anticipate gentrification

One consequence of rising rent and house prices in Sydney is the further gentrification of inner suburbs, with wealthier people displacing poorer households in certain desirable areas.

These shifts in neighbourhood composition in Australia’s largest city can have negative effects on the people displaced – people losing access to their community networks and familiar surroundings, as well as more practical concerns like access to transport and health infrastructure.

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Ethnic segregation in England and Wales on the wane, research finds

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Census data analysis shows growth of ‘rainbow’ towns and cities, as more people live with neighbours of different backgrounds

Ethnic segregation in England and Wales is on the wane as more people live alongside neighbours of different backgrounds, creating “rainbow” towns and cities, research reveals.

Neighbourhood diversity more than doubled nationally between 2001 and 2021, with huge transformations in some places. There was close to a tenfold increase in diversity in Boston, Lincolnshire, albeit from a low base; Barking and Dagenham recorded a ninefold increase, while diversity in Watford and Reading increased fourfold.

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Sexual orientation census undercounts older people and those who shun labels

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Information collected in 2021 is first that aims to show UK diversity, yet 7.5% of people did not fill in relevant questions

Census 2021 was the first to collect information on the sexual orientation of residents aged 16 years and over in England and Wales. Of those who completed the survey, 1.54% identified as gay or lesbian, and approximately 1.51% identified as bisexual or pansexual. A further 0.06% identified as asexual, and 0.03% as queer. This is almost certainly an underestimation of the actual national diversity of sexual orientation.

The item on sexuality was introduced for equity monitoring. The Office for National Statistics conducted extensive research, including the 2017 census test, to determine the exact wording and location of the item.

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Census says 39% of Muslims live in most deprived areas of England and Wales

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Campaigners urge policymakers to act on ‘cycle of poverty’ entrapping generations of British muslims

Campaigners have urged policymakers to act on the “cycle of poverty” entrapping generations of British Muslims, as the latest census shows that 39% of Muslims are now living in the most deprived areas of England and Wales.

The proportion of people who identify as Muslim has risen by 1.2 million in 10 years, bringing the Muslim population to 3.9 million in 2021, the census shows. Overall, Muslims now make up 6.5% of the population in England and Wales, up from 4.9% in 2011.

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‘Diversity is a beautiful thing’: the view from Leicester and Birmingham

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Minority ethnic people make up 59% and 51% of respective populations in UK’s first ‘super-diverse’ cities

Leicester and Birmingham have become the first “super-diverse” cities in the UK, where most people are from black, Asian or minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, according to the 2021 census.

A total of 59% of people in Leicester are from minority ethnic backgrounds, while 51% of Birmingham’s population are people of colour, as are 54% in Luton, according to the data. Across England and Wales, 18% of people are BAME.

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Queensland records biggest population gain as census reveals city exodus

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Australian census data shows 102,000 people left New South Wales and 10,000 abandoned Victoria

Far more people are moving to Queensland than any other state or territory, while New South Wales recorded the biggest net loss, Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.

There was a net gain of more than 100,000 people to the Sunshine State in the five years to 2021, according to internal migration numbers from the census.

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Australia news live updates: ‘optimistic in the extreme’ to expect operational nuclear submarine by the 2030s, says Marles

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Defence minister blames Coalition for submarine delay; NSW parliamentary inquiry into Barilaro appointment begins; David Hurley apologises for promoting builder; Chris Bowen addresses National Press Club; NSW records 11 Covid deaths, Tasmania one. Follow live

Turnbull says Albanese ‘is not Scott Morrison and that’s a big advantage’

Australia’s new prime minister will have an easier time mending relations with the French “because he is not Scott Morrison and that’s a big advantage”, the former leader Malcolm Turnbull has told journalists in Paris.

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England and Wales population rises to record 59.5 million

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Census figure is up 3.5m on 2011, with more over-65s than under-15s, and gives UK population of 67m

The population of England and Wales has hit a historic high of 59,597,300, according to the first results from the 2021 census, with a 20% surge in the number of people aged 65 and over in the last decade.

The count was based on questionnaires filled out by households on Sunday 21 March 2021 and is an 6.3% increase on the 2011 figure of 56,075,912 – an extra 3.5 million people.

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Nation records 75 Covid deaths as data shows fatalities rising since March – as it happened

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Australian Defence Force chiefs to have terms extended; nation records 75 Covid deaths as weekly fatalities double since March. This blog is now closed

The census shows that Christianity remains the country’s most common religion, AAP reports, with 43.9% of Australians identifying as Christian. But the number of followers continues to decline, dropping from 61.1% in 2011 and 52.1% in 2016.

Catholicism is the largest denomination, followed by Anglicanism. Other religions are growing: Hinduism was listed by 2.75% of respondents and Islam grew to 3.2%.

And close to 40% (38.9) have no religious affiliation, up from 22.3% in 2011 and 30.1% in 2016.

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Census 2021: Australia’s millennial generation is overtaking baby boomers, new ABS data shows

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Data released on Tuesday shows a snapshot of the nation during Covid-19 and reveals insights into religion, identity and how Australians live

New data released on Tuesday from the latest census shows that Australia’s millennial generation is becoming the nation’s largest, displacing the postwar baby boomers.

Both demographic groups comprise 5.4 million people but the 2021 statistics reflect a diminishing number of “boomers” compared with the 2016 survey.

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US census produced huge undercount of Latino population in 2020

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Census also undercounted Black and Native Americans, while overcounting non-Hispanic white people and Asian Americans

The 2020 US census undercounted America’s Latino population at more than three times the rate of the 2010 census, according to a report released on Thursday by the US Census Bureau.

The census also undercounted the nation’s Black and Native American residents, while overcounting non-Hispanic white people and Asian Americans.

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US’s white population declines for first time ever, 2020 census finds

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White population falls below 60%, underscoring what’s at stake as lawmakers begin drawing political maps

America’s white population declined for the first time while US metro areas were responsible for almost all of the country’s population growth, according to groundbreaking new data released on Thursday by the US census bureau.

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