Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is an amendment that has been circulated in the name of Senator Stott Despoja, and I will not be proceeding with that. I thank the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration for his assurance. I realise that he cannot bind the action of every single government and parliament for the next 99 years with regard to what they might do. The parliamentary secretary is powerful but not that powerful. I think that the clarification he has given about the restrictions on how the information can be used—or, more importantly, cannot be used—is worth while. The Democrats are keen to ensure that there is absolutely minimal prospect of the information that is retained by consent being used by anybody other than the National Archives or for any purpose other than what has clearly been outlined. So I thank the parliamentary secretary for his words.

One of the purposes of the census that is being collected later this year is to determine official population estimates. That information does get used to allocate Commonwealth funds to state, territory and local governments. That is a wider issue. As a Queenslander whose funds from the federal level are currently under threat by grasping southerners trying to grab money away from us, I should say that it is a worthwhile reminder for all of us to do all we can to encourage people in our own states to fill in the census form. It can add up to an extra few dollars and cents towards services in our own states. It is a reminder of the significant impact that people filling out the census fully can have on a whole range of other issues.

I also take the opportunity, having been reminded by the parliamentary secretary’s comments, to mention the very important work of the enormous number of people who work as census collectors during this period. I have a recollection of following at my mother’s heels, when I was much, much smaller, when she was a collector back in about 1971. It is a very important task, and the more help they have in encouraging and assuring people that there is no risk in filling out the forms and no danger of the information being misused—whether it be tomorrow or in 98 years time—then the better statistics we will get when the census forms are filled out.

Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I indicate that I will not be proceeding with the Australian Greens amendment that was circulated in the chamber the last time we were here. I take on board the comments by the parliamentary secretary responsible for this process in the House of Representatives. There are other avenues and ways in which the Greens can pursue this issue, and we will certainly commit to ensuring that the issues of sexuality are comprehensively covered in the census following the one that is being held this year.

I also note that I was concerned about some of the comments that were made by the parliamentary secretary in the House of Representatives. Those comments seemed to indicate that he held a view that some groups of people within our community do not deserve the same right as other groups of people in our community to have their contributions and their relationships recorded in the census. That is an issue of concern to the Greens, but we will continue to pursue it for future censuses.

Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Democrats) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I did have two comments lined up for the Democrats amendment which has not been moved. The thrust of what Senator Nettle wanted to put forward is worth while to record, but, as the parliamentary secretary in this place said, there is a process for having it potentially considered for the next census, in 2011. Another issue which I want to put on the record for future census purposes—and it is also relevant for this census—is the issue of gender. The census has always signalled people to tick a box to indicate whether they are male or female. There is now a greater recognition of a group in the community—often called the intersex community—who do not consider themselves to be either male or female. I think that issue could also be considered for inclusion on the next census.

I also note that I saw some correspondence between a member of the community and the ABS surrounding that specific issue. It indicated that the ABS had advised that people who did believe it would be inaccurate to tick either the male or female box could write down an answer that met their own view about their gender. I understand that it is an accurate thing to do, for a person to indicate their view of themselves as an intersex person, and that it does not invalidate an answer. I think it is worth putting that on the record, because it is a much larger number of people in the community than is often assumed, from the invisibility of that topic until quite recently.

I was also disappointed in the comments of the parliamentary secretary in the other place, Mr Pearce, in a media release he put out surrounding the Greens media release. I am sure he thought it was very witty to make a play on the word ‘fairies’ and to make suggestions about different forms of sexuality, but I thought it was less than appropriate and some people took offence from it. We can all get a bit carried away with taking offence about everything and we need to recognise the spirit in which comments are put forward, but my view is that the comments of Mr Pearce in the media release expressed contempt about people of minority sexualities. I think it was inappropriate and I would suggest he might want to reconsider that with future media statements.

I am not sure if the Democrats would have supported the proposed amendment, for the reasons outlined, but I do think they are issues that are worth considering for future censuses. I believe the issue of gender identity is also one that needs to be considered for future statistical purposes when we do have the census collection. Census collection and statistical information are not part of the history wars, the ideological wars or anything else; they are about getting as accurate a snapshot as possible of the full diversity of the Australian community. I think we would have a more accurate reflection if some of those questions were contained in future censuses. But I realise it is a difficult task designing census questions in a way that gets people to understand and answer the questions. That is something that obviously can be considered over the next few years before the next census is finalised.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendment; report adopted.