anon

Census 2026

Answering the sexual orientation question for the ace & aro communities

The 2026 Census will take place on August 11

Question 57 asks about sexual orientation. It is for people aged 16 and over only. The question is worded like this:

“How does the person describe their sexual orientation?”

The available answers will be very limited and “asexual” and “aromantic” will not be included. However you can write anything you like under the option that says:

‘Uses another term (specify)’

This infographic provides our knowledge and advice about how the Australian Bureau of Statistics will code your answer in the data collection process and how your answer will be reported in official statistics so that you can make an informed choice about what you write.

We understand that you may be unhappy with how you and your identity are going to be counted in the 2026 census.

WE are not happy with the way aspec - and aromantic identities in particular - are being counted in this census.

Please understand that data collection is a very complicated field and that lobbying the Government to do anything for us is a long and laborious process. It took almost a year to get the outcome we did of ensuring that allosexual aromantic people were not miscounted as asexual.

We hope that in 5 years we can make some more progress and that the 2031 census will count us all properly. Please understand that there is only so much we, as community advocates, can do.

1. The ABS will count one orientation per person, and it will be the first one you write.

If I write “asexual lesbian”, this will be coded into the computer system as “asexual”, and I will be counted and reported in official statistics as asexual.

If I write “lesbian asexual”, I will be coded, and then counted and reported as gay/lesbian.

If I write “biromantic asexual”, “heteromantic asexual” or any other alloromantic identity followed by “asexual” we do not know how you will be coded. They may not recognise the first word as an orientation and code you as asexual, or they may take the first word and code it as “other”. We do not have this information. But we will attempt to find out before August 11. If this applies to you, please wait for advice.

2. Aromantic & asexual will be counted as separate orientations.

You may have heard that aromantic identities were going to be coded under asexuality. We have had direct confirmation from the ABS that this error has been corrected. Aromantic and identities with a -romantic suffix will be coded separately.

However, we do not know if this will mean aromantic responses will be individually counted or grouped under “other”. We think it is unlikely, they will be individually counted, but we will advocate for this.

3. Microlabels will be identified as either asexual or aromantic.

There is a long list of sexual and romantic orientations and how they should be coded. We have seen the list. It is very comprehensive and includes common labels like demi- and grey- but also less well-known identities like ficto-, aego- and lith-.

If you write any of these identities, you should be aware that you will be categorised as either asexual or aromantic, depending on which suffix you use.

4. Aroace will be coded as asexual.

5. The number of people who identify as asexual will be officially reported and recorded!

It’s disappointing that we don’t have the same promise for the aromantic community. However, it’s very exciting that the ABS has committed to reporting on the number of people who are coded as responding asexual (see point #3).

Data gives us the ability to ask for resources, funding, access to services and a seat at the table when the Government and LGBTIQ+ service providers are consulting with communities. It will allow us to say “Look! This is the size of asexual Australia! Right there in raw data!”

It will be significant in world-wide terms. Are asexual people really 1% of the population - that’s a 20 year old statistic we can test!