ABS confirms testing will proceed for proposed new religion question

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is going ahead with testing the newly formulated religion question for the 2026 Census, it has been confirmed.

In a letter to the ‘Census21 – Not Religious?’ coalition, the ABS said a mixture of testing methods would now be adopted, along with stakeholder consultation, before finalising the text of the religion question.

The confirmation follows confusion surrounding the rollout of the testing phase for proposed topics and questions. A Census Test Night had been scheduled for early September, but this was cancelled after a government announcement in late August that it wanted to avoid a “divisive” debate about the inclusion of a topic on sexual orientation and identity.

The government reversed its decision due to public reaction but it was too late for the ABS to reinstate the extensive test.

The proposed religion question removes inherent bias from the text of the question, asking “Does the person have a religion?” instead of “What is the person’s religion?”. It also provides respondents with boxes to mark ‘No’ or ‘Yes’, plus a space where the name of the person’s religion can be written.

In its letter, the ABS told the ‘Census21’ coalition that it would now use alternative methods to test the proposed religion question.

“We have adjusted our testing plans and are conducting additional testing through other testing approaches such as short web surveys and cognitive interviews for new questions but also changes to existing questions, including the religious affiliation question,” the ABS said.

“For this question, the version that was to be included in the 2024 Census Test continues to be tested.”

ABS head statistician David Gruen has been consulting with religious groups, the ‘Census21’ coalition and other pro-secular groups.

The ABS confirmed that stakeholder feedback would be a factor in the final decision on the question.

“Evidence from the testing, alongside further feedback from ongoing stakeholder consultation, will support Dr Gruen’s decision on the final question approach.”

Michael Dove, spokesperson for the ‘Census21’ coalition, had sought clarification from assistant minister Andrew Leigh and the ABS on the status of testing of the religion question. This followed the government’s announcement that there would be no changes to Census topics causing widespread public confusion.

Late last year, the ‘Census21’ coalition welcomed the ABS’ proposed changes to the religion question, saying that removal of the question’s bias would deliver more accurate and meaningful data for policymakers and other Census data users.

The Catholic Church is pressuring the Albanese government to block changes to the religion question, arguing, among other things, that direct comparability with past Census results – using the same presumptive and biased question of past Censuses – is more important than collecting accurate data.

Mr Dove said Australians expected that the Census would deliver accurate and detailed data on religion to provide a stronger evidence base to inform policy and decision-making.

“This can only be achieved by using a question wording that conforms to contemporary best-practice in survey question design.

“Given that the purpose of the Census is to take a demographic snapshot of the country and its evolving culture, we believe current and accurate data is more important than continuing to compare flawed data with flawed data,” he said.

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