2026 Census

The Hon. J.S. LEE (Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (16:29): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges that Australia is a proud multicultural country and our people are from different backgrounds, cultures, languages, faiths and each individual is worthy of dignity and respect, and has a desire to lead meaningful and productive lives;

2. Recognises that the census helps us understand who we are as a nation and therefore the Australian census must accurately and comprehensively collect data that represents the pulse of the nation;

3. Recognises that the religious and spiritual profile of Australians remains an important measure for many religious and multicultural communities;

4. Notes that the Australian Bureau of Statistics proposal to make changes for the 2026 census will weaken the accuracy of one of their measures by changing the census question about religion;

5. Recognises that accurate, consistent measure and comparable data is vital as churches, temples, mosques and religious groups rely heavily on the data to assist parishes, places of worship, schools, health services, welfare, aged-care facilities and other organisations to understand the religious demographic of the communities they serve;

6. Notes that the proposed new census question disengages religion from culture and identity and calls on the Australian Bureau of Statistics to keep the existing question, 'What is your religion?', which assesses religious identification as part of a person's culture and heritage, serving as an essential marker of other attributes and beliefs;

7. Recognises that census data from the question 'What is your religion?' has helped demonstrate and monitor changes in Australia's multicultural character and it must continue to be a comprehensive and accurate tool for supporting services and activities provided by religious groups and government to meet Australians' needs; and

8. Calls on the federal Australian government to reject changes to the proposed 'reformulation' about religion in the upcoming 2026 census.

I rise today to move this important motion regarding proposed changes to the question on religious affiliation in the upcoming 2026 census. It is a topic that has seen a lot of coverage in the press and a sustained campaign by both secular and religious groups.

As we all know, the Census of Population and Housing is conducted every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and is the most comprehensive snapshot of our country. The data gathered through the census helps us understand who we are as a nation. Over the years, the censuses present substantial evidence that show how our society is changing, providing detailed information about the economic, social and cultural make up of Australia.

It is vital that comprehensive data that represents the pulse of our nation can be maintained with a high degree of integrity, accuracy and consistency. Census data helps inform services that improve the lives of people, families and communities, ensuring that the right services can be provided where they are needed. The data captured by the census highlights the changing composition of Australia's population, with the results of the latest national census in 2021 revealing that we are a fast-changing, growing and culturally diverse nation.

By way of illustrating the demographic changes in Australia, for example, over 1 million people arrived in Australia from 2017 to 2021. Over four out of every five of these arrivals, or about 83 per cent, were in 2017 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. With these new arrivals we have seen that proportion of Australian residents born overseas (first-generation) or who have a parent born overseas (second or third generation) move above 50 per cent to 51.5 per cent.

I am sure honourable members would agree that Australia is a proud multicultural country, and would appreciate that people are from different backgrounds, cultures, languages and faiths. Regardless of where people come from, each individual is worthy of dignity and respect, and has a desire to lead a meaningful and productive life.

While the recent census data shows that the number of Australians identifying as nonreligious has been increasing in recent years, for many religious and multicultural communities their faith is still an incredibly important part of their identity. Their faith is a way of life for these communities and, as the longest continuous serving member of parliament in multicultural affairs, I have experienced firsthand how important and significant religious observances, ceremonies, feast days, processions and festivals are organised and celebrated by thousands of faith-based or multicultural groups every year in South Australia.

There is no doubt that accurately capturing the religious and spiritual profile of Australians remains an important measure, and that is why am bringing this motion to the attention of honourable members in the parliament today.

Some people may not be aware that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) undertakes a review before every census to inform a recommendation to the federal government on the topics for the next census. When it comes to the question on religion, I would like to emphasise that a question on religion has been included in all Australian censuses since 1911, and answering has always been optional. Interestingly, and importantly, although the question on religion is optional it is answered by nearly all respondents.

The question is intended to measure religious affiliation, which the ABS states:

…may be different from a person's practice of or participation in a religious activity. It allows people to respond with secular or spiritual beliefs and to indicate if they have religious affiliation at all.

As part of the review ahead of the 2026 census, the ABS is proposing changes to the question on religious affiliation. The proposed change would update the question wording from 'What is your religion?' to 'Do you have a religion?' The question would have a mark box for both no and yes (specify religion). For those who indicate they do have a religion, the ABS will be testing the use of a write-in box for all responses.

Previously, though, a pick list was provided for more convenient, more useful purposes where the most common religions were provided on a pick list, and a write-in box for all others. If you are Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Buddhist, or no religion for that matter, all you have to do is just mark a dash in the box of the listing on the census form. If you have a different religion other than the most common ones, you can specify by writing in the area marked 'other'. Many people raised concerns with me that the write-in box for multicultural communities would cause a lot of problems for culturally and linguistically diverse communities where English is their second language. This method of collecting data for new arrivals would definitely disadvantage those communities.

Secular groups have argued that the current question 'What is your religion?' is biased, implying that the respondent has a religion when this may not always be the case. They argue that the phrasing of the question prompts respondents to mark that they belong to a religion when they may no longer really practise or hold those beliefs, producing results that overstate religious affiliation in the community. However, this argument disregards the intersections between religion, culture and identity. As I highlighted earlier, the ABS states that the question measures religious affiliation not religious practices, and has existed since 1911.

The existing question 'What is your religion?' assesses religious identification as part of a person's culture and heritage, serving as an essential marker of other attributes and beliefs. There is concern that asking 'Do you have a religion?' changes the question to one about whether a person holds religious beliefs and will erode the sense of religious heritage.

By disengaging religion from culture and identity, the proposed changes will weaken the accuracy of the data and affect how the data can be compared across the years. I have highlighted earlier that data on religion has been in the census data since 1911. This historical data provides substantial evidence over a long period of time and cannot be underestimated.

Data from the question 'What is your religion?' has helped demonstrate and monitor changes in Australia's multicultural character over time, and it must continue to be a comprehensive and accurate tool for supporting services and activities provided by religious groups and governments to meet Australians' needs. Accurate, consistent measures and comparable data are vital, as churches, temples, mosques and religious groups rely heavily on the data to assist parishes, places of worship, schools, health services, welfare, aged-care facilities, and other organisations to understand the religious demographic of the communities they serve.

I note that since first giving notice for this motion, the head statistician of the ABS, Dr David Gruen, appeared before Senate estimates and answered questions regarding the testing of the proposed changes to the question on religion. Dr Gruen told the estimates hearing that the census religion question was a sensitive topic and many people had strong views. He advised that the ABS would be testing the alternative question wording in September 2024, which is this month, but that should not be taken as an indication that that is where we are going to end up. The possibility of having an updated version of the 2021 census questions remains very much an option.

I also note that the ABS has issued a clarification on their website stating that no final decision has been made on the changes to the question and that the ABS will consider the impact of changes on the comparability of data between censuses.

Since giving notice of this motion, many faith-based and multicultural communities have raised their concerns with me. I have therefore taken the liberty of conducting an online survey regarding proposed changes to the question. I take this opportunity to thank everyone who took the time to submit a response to my survey and share their thoughts on the topic with me. From all the responses received, 80 per cent thought that the proposed change will impact our community and 74 per cent believe the change will make it more difficult for respondents to answer the question, and 88 per cent of survey responders said they would advocate strongly to keep the current phrasing of the question on religious affiliation on the census.

Qualitative responses highlighted concerns about the clarity of the question, if non-English-speakers would be disadvantaged by removing the pick list of common religions, concerns about comparability of the data across censuses over the years and the impact the changes may have on faith-based organisations, which rely on data from the census. It is clear that this is a genuine community concern about the impact of the proposed change to this important question on religious affiliation in the upcoming census.

The proposed changes threaten to weaken the accuracy of the data collected in the 2026 census and may be skewed by those seeking to highlight growing secularism in Australian society. Accurate data that can be compared with past years is essential for integrity, accuracy and consistency for multicultural and religious groups to plan the support services and activities they provide to their communities. I call on the federal government to listen to these concerns and reject the proposed changes to the question on religion in the upcoming 2026 census. As I commend the motion, I also urge all honourable members to support it.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.