95bFM The LGBTQIA+ community welcome first ever inclusion of rainbow data in New Zealand as a part of the 2023 Census
16 October 2024
Interview by Joel Armstrong, adapted by Fiona Ng
Workplaces Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro, Rosie Leadbitter, says that recently released 2023 Census data on Aotearoa’s rainbow community is a step in the right direction.
Recently, statistics on rainbow communities have been published as a part of the 2023 Census, a first for LGBTQIA+ people in New Zealand.
Data from the Census show that 172,383 adults in the country; almost 5% of the population identify as LGBTQIA+, with the highest reported concentrations being in Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch.
Workplaces Services Development Lead at InsideOUT Kōaro; a national, rainbow charity for young people, Rosie Leadbitter, told 95bFM’s The Wire that this a “huge milestone” for LGBTQIA+ people in the country.
“[Having rainbow data included in the Census is] something that's been coming for decades, through [the] advocacy [of] so many people in our community.”
“It’s very much an intergenerational piece of advocacy work.”
Leadbitter says this data can be used to better provide for the community, with additional information set to be released in March 2025.
“This is one of many kinds of vital tools we can point to when doing advocacy work; pushing for greater, more equitable outcomes for our communities across many different areas of life — whether that's housing, health, employment, income, and disability experiences as well.”
“[The Census data is] so powerful for us to show to agencies and systems, to say, ‘hey, we're seeing these inequitable outcomes, and we need to do something about this.’”
However, Leadbitter believes there are limitations to the Census data, which she deems a likely factor in the organisation’s belief that the data is an undercount.
“There's unfortunately not the greatest track record of our communities always being served in ways that uphold our mana.”
“As much as there's been a lot of work that's gone into framing these questions in a really specific way, a lot of the questions [on the Census] are based on identity rather than behaviour, so some people who might engage in behaviour, especially sexuality-wise, might not count themselves in these categories.”
“For some people, they might just not be ‘out;’ they might be aware of, and have that knowledge of themselves, but not feel comfortable to declare that on an official government Census.”
Despite these concerns, Leadbitter says the prevalence of this data will encourage others to feel comfortable in sharing information about their own identity.
“If [rainbow individuals] know others exist who share their identities and experiences, then we'll eventually have more accurate data that does reflect [the] true proportions of us who exist here in Aotearoa.”
