00:00The census is on Tuesday and you may be thinking oh not another form but the census is actually
00:07kind of cool and definitely important because a every five years it shows what matters the nation
00:15and shapes where government funding goes and where things like schools and hospitals get built
00:21and b this year brings the biggest change in decades. So on that first point on the 1947 census
00:30one of the questions was whether or not your home had a flushing toilet. A question that had probably
00:37raise eyebrows now but apparently in 1947 a little over half of Australians did. The questions capture
00:46what's important at the time and it brings me to my second point why this year's change is being
00:53hailed by a new demographer Liz Allen as a watershed moment for Australia and the biggest transformation
01:00to the census in over 50 years. For the first time the census will ask those aged 16 and over
01:07an optional
01:08question about sexual orientation and gender with gender being a separate question to one's sex
01:16recorded at birth. This change didn't come without controversy and you may remember it being talked
01:22about. In fact in 2024 Anthony Albanese vetoed the testing of the questioning before flipping after
01:30backlash. As you fill out the form this Tuesday perhaps rather begrudgingly on your flushing toilet
01:37do remember that it plays an important part in shaping the nation's understanding of the communities and
01:43issues that define us today.
01:47you
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