2026 Census

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 28 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

Treasury provided urgent briefing advice to Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh on confirming the Government's decision to maintain identical topics in the 2026 Census compared to 2021, rejecting the ABS's June 2024 recommendation for five topic changes to the Census & Statistics Regulations 2016. The document (brief format, marked FOR ACTION) sought ministerial confirmation of verbal advice given to the Australian Statistician on 13 August 2024, with a deadline of 21 August 2024 to enable ABS communications for the 2024 Census Test to proceed by 22 August. Three recommendations were made: confirming no regulatory changes, advising the ABS of communication timing, and briefing the LGBTIQ+ Expert Advisory Committee before public announcement. The brief identifies risks associated with the announcement's timing and emphasises the importance of maintaining the relationship with the LGBTIQ+ Advisory Committee, which had been consulted in