The gender and sexual orientation questions are optional, along with a question on religion that has been included since the first census in 1911. In 2024, the government decided against deviating from the 2021 census questions in the interests of maintaining social cohesion. ABS Chief Statistician David Gruen said his bureau discovered a “substantial level of interest in asking questions on gender and sexual orientation” during public consultations ahead of the census. Liz Allen, an Australian National University demographer, said Australia lagged behind some like-minded countries in dealing with gender and sexual orientation in the census. That census, which is held once a decade, did not specifically ask about sexual orientation.