If you've ever filled out a census form, you might remember answering questions about your ancestry.
In recent years, the census has asked respondents a combination of questions on their country of birth, ancestry, language spoken and religion.
There's now a call for the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to ask another question, specifically about ethnicity.
While asking respondents about their ethnicity could sound similar to asking them about their ancestry, experts argue ethnicity data would be more precise and could help address the gaps in health outcomes for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
The federal government announced two years ago it would begin the process of collecting ethnicity data targeting the 2026 census.
But in December, the ABS announced it would not be moving forward with the plan for the upcoming census.
The government agency released a statement on its website explaining the decision, saying despite testing multiple concepts around ethnic identity there were significant issues.
"Most notably, the testing showed that the public is unlikely to have a consistent understanding of what ethnic identity is, or the difference between ethnic identity and ancestry. The ABS determined that due to these complexities, collecting both ethnic identity and ancestry on the same form is not feasible for the 2026 Census," it wrote.
So what's the difference between ethnicity and ancestry, and why do some experts argue the way Australia measures diversity needs to change?
What is the difference between ancestry and ethnicity?
The difference between ancestry and ethnicity is complex and open to interpretation, and commentators say this is part of the issue.
In 2021, these were the questions related to diversity asked by the ABS:
- What is the person's ancestry?
- In which country was the person born?
- In what year did the person first arrive in Australia to live for one year or more?
- In which country was the person's father born?
- Does the person use a language other than English at home?
- How well does the person speak English?
- What is the person's religion?
- Is the person an Australian citizen?
- Is the person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin?
This is how the ABS described ancestry data collected at the last census:
"The ancestry question records association with ancestries, ethnic origins and cultures. The intent of the question is to capture the cultural context in which people were raised, however, some people may respond according to how they may identify with a particular cultural group.
"Ancestry in the Australian context is complex as there are many people with origins and heritage that do not, in practice, relate to their current ethnic identity."
The United Nations describes ethnicity as a broadly defined term that is based on a shared understanding of history and territorial origins of an ethnic group or community.
Social epidemiologist Naomi Priest from the Australian National University said ancestry data was about the geographic region of someone's ancestry, while ethnicity data is more specific about a person's cultural identity.
"There's also a lot of confusion between what's your genetic ancestry? What's your cultural identity? What's your ethnicity?" she said.
What is the argument for collecting ethnicity data?
Demographers have highlighted the importance of data collected in the census because it often has impact on how data is collected in both the public and private sectors.
Professor Priest has researched the impact of racism in health.
She explained health determinants and treatment in the healthcare are often patterned by ethnicity, and that collecting this data becomes an important accountability tool for governments.
"We need to have the nuance around this and remember that it's racism and social structures that shape health," she said.
"It's absolutely a health equity issue, and it's an accountability issue, but also for communities to have access to their own data that represents and captures their own experiences."
She pointed to examples in the United Kingdom where the National Health Service started a Race and Health Observatory during the pandemic in 2021.
Professor Priest — who has worked with the expert body — explained Britain's Medicare equivalent has placed its focus on creating research and policy addressing the health inequities in the country.
"Reporting most carefully with and in partnership with communities and, also building capacity amongst the workforce that it's racism, not race that's the risk factor for for these inequities," she said.
Some experts disagree with the collection of ethnicity data
But some experts like Amrita Malhi from the Australian National University have said ethnicity isn't a stable constant feature to be easily defined.
"We'd have to determine what ethnicity is, and who is entitled to refer to their preferred group identity as an 'ethnicity'," she said.
"There are simply no stable, universal answers to these questions – whatever we settle on will hold true for some groups but not others."
She explained that ethnicity was contested, and understood through shifts in society, for example, Australia's growing diversity.
"Now that there are simply so many more of us 'ethnics' living here, it is simply impossible to ignore our many intersecting forms of diversity," she said.
Dr Malhi added that sorting people into ethnicities could be seen as an attempt to freeze the changes in a diverse society to make it easier to read social identities when they are complicated.
"Creating formal, permanent ethnic and racial categories tends to socialise and harden those categories so they structure our experiences and opportunities even more than they did before," she said.
"This is obviously not what Australian advocates have been calling for, but it is consistent with how states have used census categories all around the world."
The ABS says it tested multiple concepts around ethnicity
The terms tested by the government agency included ethnic groups, cultural background, ethnic and cultural background, and the culture you belong to.
It also tested questions on ancestry and ethnic identity together.
But, the ABS said testing showed people had different interpretations of the term ethnic identity, with some considering it linked with ancestry even after an explanation was provided.
"Inconsistencies with public understanding of 'ethnic identity' may lead to poor data quality, impact the comparability of existing cultural diversity data over time," a spokesperson said.
The ABS said there was no single measure that could represent the multi-dimensional nature of the concept of ethnicity, which is why it instead asked multiple questions.
The ABS said it is also considering increasing the number of ancestries a respondent can choose from — two to four — to improve data quality, as well as allow respondents to reflect more complex cultural backgrounds.
The government agency explained that while ethnicity data is collected in other countries, they each had different ways of measuring ethnicity.
"Australia uses an ancestry approach for measuring ethnic group affiliation, which is similar to the approaches used by Statistics Canada," the spokesperson said.
At the last census in 2021, Canada had a list of more than 500 ethnic or cultural origins included as a guide, which experts say is based on commonly indicated groups.
Canada asks its population about both ethnicity and ancestry.
Question: What were the ethnic or cultural origins of this person's ancestors?
Ancestors may have Indigenous origins, or origins that refer to different countries, or other origins that may not refer to different countries. For examples, refer to this list of ethnic or cultural origins. Specify as many origins as applicable.
Minister for Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles declined to comment.
First Nations health expert says not collecting ethnicity data is 'racist'
The phrase Gunditjmara leader Jill Gallagher hears more often than most is closing the gap.
But the long-time chief executive of Victoria's peak Aboriginal advocacy health organisation said without ethnicity data, she would be in the dark about how to address the inequalities facing First Nations communities.
She pointed to the Beautiful Shawl program, a trial started by the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, calling it an example of where good evidence-based data can have material change.
The program has been running since 2018 to provide breast screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in partnership with BreastScreen Victoria.
"It was very obvious that Aboriginal people in Victoria weren't accessing screening facilities for cancer. So when they did get diagnosed, it was way too late," Ms Gallagher said.
Last year, it had the highest number of First Nations women participating in the project, and the largest number who had a screening for the first time.
That's why Ms Gallagher said bluntly not collecting ethnicity, specifically in health settings, is racist.
"If we can't measure, whatever, programs or things that we put in place, if we can't measure the outcome of it, then why do it," Ms Gallagher said.
"I think it's racist if you don't [collect the data]."
Demographer warns time is running out to add ethnicity data to the census
Demographer Liz Allen from the Australian National University explained there's been a move to use by-product data, which is data collected from across government agencies, as an alternative to the census.
She said the ABS took measures ahead of the last census after the failures in 2016 which saw a mass outage of the census website that prevented thousands of people from completing the survey online for the first time.
The analysis, Dr Allen said, was conducted by the ABS using administrative by-product data to see how closely it matched with the traditional census.
"It came pretty close ... the ABS currently can run a census without having to speak to anyone, without having anyone fill out the census form," she said.
There have been suggestions in the UK and New Zealand that the days of the traditional census may be over.
Dr Allen said that if Australia moved in this direction it would be difficult to add new data fields like ethnicity which doesn't exist within the by-product data gathered across government agencies.
For example, it was not until last year the National Suicide and Self-harm Monitoring System began collecting data on suicide by country of birth.
"We're now seeing the death of the traditional census in the UK, and New Zealand ... The problem for us is that if we don't get it up, soon, we won't ever have that data."
