IN CHARTS: taking pride in participation

There were no data available in the survey for transgender, gender diverse or non-binary populations or for people with an intersex variation. ANZ Research hopes to report on these populations in the future as more data become available.

“The LGB+ population is more likely to be in the highest or second highest income quintile than the heterosexual population.”

ABS estimations of the Australian population, based on a survey of 5,300 households in 2020, show the following:

Of Australians aged 15 or older, 3.8 per cent identified as LGB+.

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The LGB+ population accounted for 4.3 per cent of employees and 4.1 per cent of those aged 15+ with a non-school qualification.

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The LGB+ population is more likely to be in the highest or second highest income quintile than the heterosexual population.

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However, at the same time, the LGB+ population are more likely to be unemployed.

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The LGB+ population accounted for 8.3 per cent of people involved in civic and political groups, meaning a member of the LGB+ population was more than twice as likely to be involved in these groups as a heterosexual person in 2020.

The LGB+ population also accounted for 3.8 per cent of people aged 15+ who had provided unpaid volunteer work through an organisation in the 12 months prior to the survey.

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People identifying as LGB+ were far less likely than those who identify as heterosexual to be in a registered marriage and far more likely to be in a de-facto marriage. (Same sex marriage was legalised in Australia in 2017.)

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Around half (51 per cent) of the LGB+ population lived in households with a couple only or a couple with children, compared with around 60 per cent of the heterosexual population. Around 33 per cent of the LGB+ population lived alone or in “other” household types, including share-houses, compared with around 22 per cent of the heterosexual population.

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The differences in household types between the heterosexual population and the LGB+ population may at least partially be due to the higher average age of the heterosexual population, based on survey results.

Adelaide Timbrell and Bansi Madhavani are Senior Economists and Siddhant Kalra is Senior Research Analyst at ANZ