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South Australian Liberal MP James Stevens has criticised the decision to include gender and sexuality questions in the upcoming census, comparing it to listing 鈥楯edi鈥� as a religion.

Stevens compares gender/sexuality census Qs to listing your religion as Jedi

Speaking to Steve Price on , Stevens stated that 鈥淚鈥檝e lost track of all this to be honest 鈥� there are two genders, male and female. I don鈥檛 know why it is that we鈥檙e having these endless debates about this, and I think a lot of Australians are going to become really confused. It鈥檚 potentially going to affect the census.鈥�

鈥淭here was a time that they wanted to put Jedi Knight down as a religious option, and I just think let鈥檚 keep things nice and straightforward and simple. There are two genders, male and female, no question about it.鈥�

One Nation鈥檚 Chief of Staff James Ashby added “I have no interest in knowing if you are in a same-sex relationship, or a heterosexual relationship, or one with your donkey, I don鈥檛 care. It shouldn鈥檛 on the census.鈥�

鈥淗opefully after this election we can get it cleared up and just remove them for the sake of every household.鈥澛�

The Census Menace

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has not proposed adding Jedi as a religion in the census, and previously discouraged Australians from listing Jedi as their religion, citing concerns with demographic accuracy and service provision.听

Writing Jedi in the religion section of the census was an early internet viral phenomenon worldwide. In the 2001 census, 0.37% of Australians wrote Star-Wars related answers in the 鈥極ther鈥� section to the question “What is the person’s religion?” compared to 0.8% of Britons and 1.5% of New Zealanders.听

Subsequent censuses have seen a decline in the number of Australians identifying as Jedi.

The ABS Strikes Back

Last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially stated that questions about sexuality and gender would not be included in the upcoming census, but the questions were reinstated after public backlash.

The ABS has previously issued a statement of regret for excluding LGBTIAQ+ questions from the 2021 census.

While the wording of the questions has not yet been finalised, the 2026 Census will introduce new phrases such as “sex recorded at birth” to differentiate birth sex from current gender identity. It will capture data on trans and non-binary people, though not intersex people.

The ABS has confirmed that 5 new topics and changes to 12 existing topics have been shortlisted for development and testing.听

In a media event publicising the , Director of the 2026 Census Content Georgia Chapman said 鈥淭he Census provides some of Australia鈥檚 most valuable statistics, and it鈥檚 important that it reflects our contemporary society and captures emerging data needs.鈥�

鈥淭he ABS expanded the opportunity for public input to the 2026 Census content with two phases of consultation. Our aim was to give everyone in Australia an opportunity to provide feedback and help the ABS understand impacts of proposed changes.鈥�

鈥淲e considered over 1,000 pieces of feedback during the consultations, across a diverse range of themes. The changes shortlisted cover a range of topics including increasing our understanding of cultural diversity and LGBTIQ+ populations, to expanding information on work, study and long-term health conditions.鈥�