In deciding whether to include a sexual orientation question in the next census Statistics NZ commissioned focus group research to look at public attitudes towards questions on sexual orientation. This research showed that most people would be either accepting, or grudgingly accepting, of a question on sexual orientation in the population census. Groups most accepting included younger people, middle-aged people, and members of the 'out' gay and lesbian communities. Those less accepting included Pacific peoples, Asian people, rural people, and older people - some of these are key policy interest groups that Statistics New Zealand already has difficulty eliciting adequate responses from. All of the groups canvassed in this research were able to identify data quality and accuracy issues - particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to 15-20 year-olds.

In addition Statistics NZ received no proposals for including the topic of sexual orientation in the 2006 Census were received from government policy agencies. While many of the individuals and community groups who raised the issue of sexual orientation during consultation supported the inclusion of this topic in the census, noting that little information currently exists on sexual orientation in a New Zealand context, there were others who opposed its inclusion."

Statistics New Zealand concluded that the census was not the appropriate method to collect information on the sexual orientation of the New Zealand population but acknowledged that data was needed in this area.

The report suggested that the Social Statistics Programme may provide the opportunity to collect relevant and more accurate data on sexual orientation. In the medium-term, Statistics New Zealand has noted that the Ministry of Health will be collecting information on sexual orientation, attraction and behaviour as part of the Health Behaviours Survey - Sexual and Reproductive Health, which is expected to go into the field in late 2004. The experiences of the Ministry of Health will be invaluable in terms of building an understanding of the issues in asking questions on sexual orientation.

Website: Statistics New Zealand