Albanese backs down

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reversed an earlier decision not to include a question on sexuality in the 2026 Census, following significant backlash from the LGBTQI community and criticism from within his own party. He announced that the Australian Bureau of Statistics will test a new question regarding sexual orientation, which he described as a 'commonsense position.' This shift comes after a wave of dissent from Labor backbenchers and advocacy groups who argued that excluding such questions would marginalize LGBTQI Australians. The decision to originally omit the questions was justified by some government officials as a means to avoid divisive debates. Albanese acknowledged the government's focus on broader issues like cost of living but emphasized the importance of accurate data collection in the Census. The inclusion of the question will depend on the outcomes of the testing process by the ABS.