Outcomes of the 2026 Census topic review

The Census of Population and Housing (the Census) provides a snapshot of Australia. It shows how our nation changes over time, helps estimate our population, and informs critical decisions that guide our future. The next Census will take place in 2026.

The topics that can be collected in the Census are specified in the Census and Statistics Regulation 2016 (the Regulation). The Australian Government makes the decision on what topics are included in the Regulation. The ABS has the authority to determine the wording of the questions for the topics in the Census.

Prior to every Census, the ABS undertakes a review which identifies where the Census can meet additional data needs, improve alignment with other national datasets, and improve the respondent experience by being more inclusive and reducing the burden on people when completing the form. The review includes public consultation, engagement and testing activities.

For the first time, the ABS included a second phase of public consultation. This increased the opportunity for public involvement and confidence in the decisions on the content changes for the 2026 Census. The ABS published the outcomes of each phase of the public consultation:

• Phase one: 28 February to 28 April 2023 – asked for submissions from the public on what information the public would like the ABS to collect on the Census.
• Phase two: 27 July to 8 September 2023 – consulted on topics identified during phase one for inclusion, change or removal from the 2026 Census.

Following the public consultation, the ABS tested potential changes for the 2026 Census with a wide range of population groups across different areas of Australia. Testing helps the ABS determine whether high quality data on a topic can be collected in the Census.

The testing program included focus groups, short web surveys and interviews to develop and test questions for the 2026 Census. Testing involved over 800 participants in total. Additionally, research with over 2,000 participants was conducted on motivators and barriers to Census participation, including the understanding and support for potential new questions considered by the ABS.

The ABS received support from the LGBTIQ+ Expert Advisory Committee for the 2026 Census, and the ABS Round Table for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics during the testing program.

For further details on testing activities, see 2026 Census topic review: Update on process (September 2024).

Following feedback received during the public consultations on the Religious Affiliation Standard in 2022, and the 2026 Census topic consultation in 2023, the ABS considered and tested two major changes to the religious affiliation question. These were to:

• update the question wording from ‘What is your religion? to ‘Do you have a religion?’ to not assume someone has a religion, and 
• for those who do indicate that they have a religion, use a write-in box for all responses, instead of having a pick list for a small number of common religions, and a write-in box for all others.

In 2024, the ABS continued to consult with religious and secular organisations on the data needs that would be met or impacted if the ABS changed the religious affiliation question for the 2026 Census.

Feedback from the additional consultation identified strong benefits for comparability of the data that were not as strongly identified during earlier consultations. Religious organisations requested that the ABS provide additional support if the question changed, to help them understand the extent of the impact on response patterns due to the question change. 

The ABS was also presented with further examples supporting the question change, including the need for increased granularity of religious affiliation data, as well as requests for the question to be more inclusive and to better reflect the diversity of the Australian community. Several organisations requested the ABS develop education materials to help them support their members complete the Census accurately, regardless of the question design used in the 2026 Census.

The feedback from consultation highlighted that it is not possible to design a question(s) that will meet the range of needs identified. In addition, understanding the impact that a question change would have on response patterns and comparability between Censuses requires a more extensive testing program than was possible within the 2026 Census timeframes.

Following the extended consultation, the ABS has decided to retain the question design used in the 2021 Census. This includes the question wording ‘What is the person’s religion?’, the 10 response categories, and a write-in box for other religions.

This decision is primarily driven by the inability of the ABS to adequately support data users who need to compare religious affiliation data from the 2026 Census with previous Censuses. Further testing of any redesigned question would have been required to provide the ABS with confidence that the impacts on respondent burden and data quality had been fully assessed. 

The ABS will implement four changes to the question, and the way the data is processed, to support more accurate reporting and reflect updates to the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG):

1. provide additional instructional and explanatory text to encourage respondents to use the write-in box if their religion, or the level of detail they want to provide about their religion, is not one of the response categories 
2. update the examples in the instructional text, with the intention to:
   • include Macedonian Orthodox: This is the second largest Orthodox religious group and its inclusion as an example is to reduce the risk of people from other Orthodox religions accidentally selecting the ‘Greek Orthodox’ response category
   • include Sikhism: Sikhism has been elevated to a Broad Group in the recent ASCRG update. Its inclusion means that there is at least one religion from each Broad Group represented as an example or response category
   • remove Atheism: This is due to feedback from secular organisations that Atheism and other secular groups should be selecting the ‘No religion’ response category, as Atheism is not an example of a religion
3. reorder the response categories to reflect the most common religious groups reported in the 2021 Census to reduce respondent burden (this occurs every Census)
4. change the way the data is processed so that the most granular level of detail provided by respondents is recorded. 

The ABS will develop educational materials that religious and secular organisations can use to support their members to complete the Census accurately. 

The ABS tested changes to the response categories to count the number of children who are home schooled. An absence of participants responding to this category during testing did not provide confidence to proceed with this change, and the ABS assessed that there was a higher level of risk that the change could reduce data quality for this topic. For this reason, changes to the response categories will not be included in the 2026 Census.

The ABS tested collecting data on the long-term health conditions ‘liver disease’ and ‘migraine’.

Testing did not provide confidence that ‘migraine’ would be generally understood or answered accurately as the ABS observed some confusion of the difference between a migraine and other headaches. For this reason, the response category of ‘migraine’ will not be included in the 2026 Census.

The response category of ‘liver disease’ will be included in the 2026 Census, as testing provided confidence that it would be generally understood without any explanation or instruction and could be answered accurately in the Census.

The ABS tested whether the current question on registered marital status could be expanded to collect data on de facto relationships. The Census does produce data on de facto relationships, which is derived using current living arrangements and requires both people in the de facto relationship to be living in the same dwelling on Census night.

In 2024, the ABS continued to consult on data needs and to understand any potential impact of changing the marital status question for data users. Feedback from the extended consultation identified that while there was support to consider a change to the question, there was a need to be able to compare data between Censuses. Understanding the impact that a question change has on response patterns and comparability between Censuses requires a more extensive testing program than was possible within the 2026 Census timeframes.

Testing of a revised question also highlighted concerns with the level of understanding of the term ‘de facto relationship’ across different population groups.

The feedback from consultation, as well as evidence from testing, informed the ABS decision to retain the question from the 2021 Census due to the risk that the change would reduce the comparability and quality of the data.

The ABS will continue to produce data on de facto relationships using the question on relationships in the household.