More Australians than ever are identifying as members of the LGB+ community, in what researchers say could be the beginning of a modern-day “sexual revolution”.
New research from Charles Darwin University found that the number of Australians who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual doubled between 2012 and 2020.
In 2012, 3.3 per cent of adults over the age of 15 identified as LGB+, the study’s lead researchers found. By 2020, that figure had grown to 5.8 per cent.
The study’s figures are higher than those reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which estimated that 3.6 per cent of Australians aged 16 and over identified as LGB+ in 2022.
Lead researcher Fiona Shalley said the surge in visibility and acceptance of sexual minorities in Australia – particularly following the legalisation of same-sex marriage – may reflect shifting societal attitudes.
“The growing confidence of people identifying as LGB+ is likely influenced by the number of visible positive role models, social media attention, and in our storytelling,” she said.
“If you think about the 60s and the 70s and the big revolution of sexual freedom then, maybe it’s happening again.”
The research used responses from participants who identified as LGB+ in The Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) survey of 17,000 Australians. Using this data, researchers estimated the size and growth of the population at three points in time: 2012, 2016 and 2020.
“Australia’s LGB+ demographic is a relatively hidden population group,” Shalley said.
“We still don’t enough about them to understand how the population will grow in the future – but we are certainly noticing them now.”
However, Shalley said it’s difficult to project future population trends as it was hard to rely on historical patterns to make forward predictions.
“This research identified that the biggest driver of the growth in the Australian LGB+ demographic over the eight-year time frame was young women who identified as bisexual,” she said.
“There is lots of evidence that women’s patterns of attraction and behaviour are more likely to change over time than men’s, so we cannot be certain they will continue to choose the same sexual identity in the future, or even remain part of the sexual minority population as it is now described.”
Still, if young adults who participated in the study maintain their sexual identities over their lifetimes, the LGB+ population could increase by about 3 per cent each year.
“We could see an adult LGB+ population size of about 1.7 million people once the next data is updated from 2024. That’s an even bigger jump,” she said.
The upcoming 2026 Census – which for the first time will include a question on sexual orientation – is expected to provide a clearer picture of Australia’s queer population.
Gay Sydney News reporter