For the first time, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released an estimate of Australia’s LGBTI+ populations, placing the figure at more than 900,000.
ABS Head of Health Statistics Linda Fardell said the experimental estimates were the first of their kind in Australia.
Ms Fardell said, in a new approach, the ABS combined data from nearly 45,000 people who responded to one of four recent ABS health surveys.
“The new data shows that about 4.5 percent of all Australians 16 years and older are LGBTI+. That’s over 900,000 people,” she said
Ms Fardell said younger Australians were more likely to be LGBTI+.
“Nearly 10 percent of Australians aged 16 to 24 years are LGBTI+.”
She said about 740,000 Australians (3.6 percent) were lesbian, gay, bisexual or use a different term to describe their sexual orientation.
“One in three LGB+ Australians are married or in a de facto relationship.”
Ms Fardell said nearly one percent of Australians are trans and gender diverse.
She said this included trans men, trans women and non-binary people.
“That’s around 178,900 Australians.
“About 0.3 percent of Australians report they know they were born with variations of sex characteristics – that’s around 63,300 people,” Ms Fardell said.
She said the Australian figures were very similar to New Zealand’s 2023 Census data.
“As in Australia, 3.6 percent of New Zealanders are lesbian, gay, bisexual or use a different term to describe their sexual orientation.
“Around 0.9 percent of Australians and 0.6 pe cent of New Zealanders are trans and gender diverse.”
Ms Fardell said the 2026 Australian Census would include questions on gender and sexual orientation for people aged 16 years and over.
“This will provide more detailed data by geography and population characteristics for LGB+ and trans and gender diverse populations in Australia.”
– LGBTI+ represents people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or use a different term to describe their sexual orientation, trans and gender diverse, and people born with variations of sex characteristics.
– LGB+ represents people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or use a different term to describe their sexual orientation.
