New Zealand’s 2023 census was the first to collect data on gender identity and sexual orientation, showing one in 20 adults identify as LGBTQIA+.
But just as reports from this more inclusive census are being released, Minister of Statistics Shane Reti announced a change to existing administrative data collected by government departments as part of their normal business, scrapping a 150-year history of the census.
Currently, there are no sources of administrative data that include adequate rainbow demographic markers such as sexual orientation, gender, transgender experience or variations of sex characteristics.
Without high-quality data, the policy reforms needed to address underserved and historically marginalised populations become harder to make. How can we create evidence-based policy with no evidence? Read the whole article