The Australian Bureau of Statistics
Estimates and characteristics of LGBT+ populations in Australia
Data on gender, trans and gender diverse, sexual orientation,and people born with variations of sex characteristics
Reference period 2022 – Released 19/12/2024
- About 0.3% of Australians 16 years and over report they know they were born with variations of sex characteristics
- LGBT+ Australians 16 years and over make up about 3.6% of the population
- About 0.9% of Australians 16 years and over are trans and gender diverse, including trans men, trans women and non-binary people
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What is the age of consent for gender transition in Australia?
People under the age of 18 can only access gender-affirming medical treatment with consent from both of their parents or carers or, failing this, through a Court order with regards to:
- The Gillick competence of the adolescent
- A diagnosis of gender dysmorphia
- Proposed treatment for gender dysmorphia
What is Gillick competence?
“Gillick competence” comes from the English case of Gillick, which provides that a minor is capable of giving informed consent when they achieve sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable them to understand fully what is proposed.
National gender affirming healthcare guidelines describe options including:
Under 18 years: Stage 1: puberty suppression with puberty blockers; and Stage 2: gender affirming hormone therapy with estrogen or testosterone.
18 years and over: Stage 3: gender affirming surgical procedures (in some cases a 16 or 17 year old trans masculine person may benefit from a chest reconstructive procedure, but genital surgery is not recommended under age 18)
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The estimates and characteristics in this analysis are subject to limitations and error due to, for example, sample size and non-sampling error. These data are experimental and not population benchmarks and should be used with caution.
Readers should note measures of sampling error associated with the results presented in this article. Error bars in graphs illustrate the range within which we are 95% confident that the true value lies.
This analysis only includes two figures (the estimated number and the estimated proportion of the population) for people who report they know they were born with variations of sex characteristics. This is because the sample size of the dataset limits the reliability of any further data disaggregation.
Additionally, the information on people born with variations of sex characteristics is complex to collect because only a small proportion of the population have variations of sex characteristics and some respondents may be unaware of the concepts behind the question or unfamiliar with the terminology. This may lead to some respondents mistakenly answering yes when they do not have variations of sex characteristics.
Conversely, some respondents who were born with variations may have answered no to the question if they were not aware of variations or did not believe their characteristics were included in the concepts and terminology of the question. It is not possible to determine whether these scenarios occurred and if so, how often.
This analysis is the first time the ABS has compiled a set of experimental estimates of LGBTI+ populations in Australia, specifically of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or use a different term to describe their sexual orientation, trans and gender diverse, and people who were born with variations of sex characteristics.
The estimates and characteristics in this analysis are not population benchmarks, however they can be used to help inform decision making for LGBTI+ populations.
This is the first time ABS has output all the items from the Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020 (‘2020 Standard’). Since the introduction of the 2020 Standard, the ABS now have enough data to produce estimates of LGBTI+ populations by combining multiple household surveys into one analysis dataset.