The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has rejected concerns that the continued use of a coercive and biased religion question in the Census is discriminatory and breaches the country’s international human rights commitments.
In a letter to the Rationalist Society of Australia last month, the head of the ABS, Dr David Gruen, said his agency “does not accept” that the wording of the 2026 Census question on religious affiliation is discriminatory.
He also said that, in determining the question to be used, the ABS acted in accordance with Australian laws, which included laws that implement Australia’s international human rights obligations.
“The ABS does not accept that the wording of the religious affiliation question is discriminatory,” he said.
“…the current question design was chosen after extensive rounds of consultation with stakeholders and testing. It gives non-religious Australians full opportunity to record that they have no religion.
“The ABS ensures it acts in accordance with Australian law. This includes Australian laws which implement Australia’s international human rights obligations.”
Dr Gruen would not answer the RSA’s question on whether the ABS sought legal advice on whether the formulation of the religion question met Australia’s international human rights commitments.
“Any communications between the ABS and its legal representatives for the purpose of being provided legal advice and services are confidential and subject to legal professional privilege,” he said.
In March, RSA Executive Director Si Gladman wrote to Dr Gruen – whose formal title is ‘Australian Statistician’ – to ask whether the ABS had weighed the human rights impact in deciding not to accurately count the nation’s non-religious population in the next Census. Having not received a reply, Mr Gladman wrote to Dr Gruen again in August.
The RSA had argued that, in assuming all respondents have a religion, the Census question’s framing was inconsistent with international human rights provisions as it failed to treat religious and non-religious beliefs equally and interfered with each individual’s right to accurately record their religious or non-religious affiliation.
As reported by the RSA, the ABS announced in February that it would keep the biased religion question – ‘What is the person’s religion?’ – for the 2026 Census.
As a result, governments, policy-makers, researchers and the wider community will not be able to access accurate Census data on religious affiliation.
A number of surveys using less biased questions show the ‘no religion’ result as being more than 10 points higher than the result from the 2021 national Census.
In March, Dr Gruen told the RSA that religious groups had expressed a “strong desire” not to change the religion question, with these groups putting a “high value” on data being comparable between censuses.
Following a two-year public consultation by the ABS, in which the overwhelming public feedback called for change of the question to remove the bias, the ABS originally proposed to change the wording of the question – to ‘Does the person have a religion?’ – so as to “support more accurate data collection”.
Yet, in early 2024, Catholic church bishops and Liberal Party figures mounted a media campaign that attacked the ABS’s proposed new question and called on the Albanese government to intervene.
In July this year, the RSA raised human rights concerns about the Census question in a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, which is examining Australia’s human rights as part of the Universal Periodic Review (Fourth Cycle). The submission — supported by another eight non-religious, ex-religious and pro-secular organisations — identified this issue as one of eight examples of discrimination and unfair treatment against non-religious people in government institutions and programs.
See all of the RSA’s reporting about the Census question here.
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Si Gladman is Executive Director of the Rationalist Society of Australia. He also hosts ‘The Secular Agenda’ podcast.
Image: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Letter from Australian Statistician David Gruen, 25 September 2025
Dear Mr Gladman
Thank you for your correspondence of 21 August 2025 regarding the question on religious affiliation in the 2026 Census. Below are my answers to your questions:
- Do you accept that the wording of the religion question is discriminatory against non-religious Australians in that it assumes they have a religion?
The ABS does not accept that the wording of the religious affiliation question is discriminatory.
- Did the ABS consider the human rights implications of the religion question when it decided on re-using it for the 2026 Census? If so, can you please outline the substance of that consideration?
The ABS ensures it acts in accordance with Australian law. This includes Australian laws which implement Australia’s international human rights obligations.
- Has the ABS sought legal advice on whether the formulation of the religion question meets Australia’s international human rights commitments? If not, will it seek legal advice?
Any communications between the ABS and its legal representatives for the purpose of being provided legal advice and services are confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.
As I noted in my previous correspondence with you, the current question design was chosen after extensive rounds of consultation with stakeholders and testing. It gives non-religious Australians full opportunity to record that they have no religion.
While we acknowledge that it is not possible to choose a question design that satisfies everyone, the question on religious affiliation has been designed to minimise respondent burden. The pick list of 10 response categories includes ‘no religion’ and the nine most common mutually exclusive responses to the question regarding religious affiliation in the 2021 Census. Respondents can also enter their response in the free-text box.
It should also be noted that the question is optional. Respondents are free to leave the question if they prefer. Past Censuses have shown that most people choose to answer the question.
Thank you for taking the time to provide your views to the ABS on the 2026 Census.
Yours sincerely
Dr David Gruen AO
Australian Statistician
25 September 2025