Australians who fail to complete this year’s Census are being threatened with daily fines.
The 2026 survey takes place on 11 August and introduces questions on sex recorded at birth, gender and sexual orientation for people aged 16+.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the data will help improve health and community services. The questions were added after the Government faced criticism from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, Labor MPs and others, who argued the omission would leave such communities invisible in public data.
However, the Australian Privacy Foundation argued governments should earn public trust through stronger privacy protections, rather than relying on compulsory participation and penalties. Read more at Nine News, News.com.au and Australian Privacy Foundation.
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“All states, because they live parasitically off the population on an ongoing basis, depend on eliciting the compliance of the people in some degree; no state can survive a mass refusal to obey.” Etienne de La Boetie (1530-1563)