LGBT in Australia
Australia is one of the most LGBT-friendly countries in the world. In a 2013 Pew Research poll, 79% of Australians agreed that homosexuality should be accepted by society, making it the fifth most supportive country in the survey behind Spain, Germany, Canada and the Czech Republic. With a long history of LGBT rights activism and an annual three-week-long Mardi Gras festival, Sydney is one of the most gay-friendly cities in Australia and in the world.
Terminology
The term LGBTI is increasingly used in Australia, rather than just LGBT, with the I denoting intersex people. Organisations that include intersex people as well as LGBT people include the National LGBTI Health Alliance and community media. Also used are the terms LGBTQI, and LGBTQIA, with the A denoting asexual people, and Q queer people.Demographics
In 2014, over half a million people or 3.0% of the adult population identified as gay, lesbian or "other". This included 268,000 people who identified as gay or lesbian and 255,000 people who identified as having an "other" sexual orientation.Same-sex couples
In 2011, same-sex couples accounted for 0.7% of the total number of couples. It increased to 0.9% in the 2016 Census. In 2016, there were 23,700 male same-sex couples and 23,000 female same-sex couples. The pattern of more male than female same-sex couples has been consistent since 1996, although the degree of difference has decreased in each census, more significantly in the 2016 Census.In 2016, same-sex couples accounted for 1.4% of all couples in the Australian Capital Territory, the highest proportion of any state or territory. However, only 2.6% of all same-sex couples in Australia lived in the Australian Capital Territory. The next highest proportions were in New South Wales and Victoria, where same-sex couples accounted for 1.0% of all couples. Almost two-thirds of same-sex couples lived in New South Wales or Victoria, whereas only 0.8% lived in the Northern Territory and 1.8% in Tasmania.
The 2016 Census noted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to live with a same-sex partner than non-Indigenous people. About 1.2% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived with a same-sex partner, while that of non-Indigenous people was 0.9%.
Children growing up in same-sex families
The 2011 Australian Census counted 6,300 children living in same-sex families, up from 3,400 in 2001, making up one in a thousand of all children in couple families. In 2016, it increased to 10,500 children, accounting for 0.2% of all children in families.Income of same-sex couples
Individuals in same-sex relationships were more likely to have higher personal incomes than those in opposite-sex relationships. In 2016, 23% of men in same-sex relationships earned $2,000 or more a week, compared with 18% of men in opposite-sex relationships. For women, the difference was greater. Women in same-sex relationships were twice as likely to be earning $2,000 or more a week as women in opposite-sex relationships.Religious affiliation
According to the 2016 Census, LGBT people were most likely to report they had no religion, however, 32% said they were Christian. This was in contrast to heterosexual people, for whom Christianity was the leading affiliation, followed by not having a religion. Same-sex partners were more likely to be affiliated with Buddhism than those in opposite-sex relationships and less likely to be affiliated with Hinduism or Islam.| Religion | Percent of same-sex couples affiliated |
| No religion | 57% |
| Christianity | 32% |
| Buddhism | 3.9% |
| Islam | 0.7% |
| Hinduism | 0.5% |
History
Rights
Social conditions
Public attitudes
A 2005 paper by the Australia Institute, Mapping Homophobia in Australia, found that 35% of people aged 14 or above considered homosexuality to be immoral, with Queensland and Tasmania having the highest levels of anti-gay sentiment and Victoria the lowest. Overall the most anti-LGBT areas in the study were the Moreton area of country Queensland, Central and South-West Queensland and the Burnie/Western district of Tasmania, where 50% considered homosexuality to be immoral, while the least homophobic were inner-city Melbourne, central Perth and central Melbourne.A 2018 Ipsos survey of the attitudes towards transgender people in several countries found 71% of Australian respondents thought that the country was becoming more tolerant of transgender people.