Gender-diverse? Get noticed in the 2016 Census.

2016 Census night

With the increasing visibility of gender diverse people in the Australian Jewish community, it’s important to get an accurate understanding of how many identify beyond the gender binary of female and male.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has advised that in the 2016 Census, respondents may identify a non-binary gender if they so choose.  This applies to people who do not always identify just as either one of male or female.

There are two official ways to achieve this:

  1. If you are using a paper census form, leave the Female and Male box boxes blank and write in your preferred gender identity in the space next to them.
  2. If you are using the online census form, call the Census Inquiry Service on 1300‑214‑531 and request a special online form that has an Other option for gender on it.

Source: Australian Census to offer ‘other’ option for gender question | SBS

UPDATE 03/08/16: Official ABS instructions here.

Leave a Reply