Enumerating Australia's diverse: ethnicity and raciology in census and workplace diversity surveys

The Australian Government has announced that from 2026, the nation's census will enumerate its population by ethnicity instead of ancestry, a term it used until 2021. This decision's advocates argue it will support improved social justice outcomes for Australia's diverse population. Yet while the decision addresses a genuine data problem for advocates, it also reveals a statist desire to freeze dynamic social and political processes that construct superdiverse identities. Ethnic labels, and the term ethnicity itself, have unstable meanings, and census operations that use them have contributed to producing confusion, and social harm, in Britain and its other colonies. Advocates should consider this record instead of presenting ethnic enumeration as a wholly positive step. They should also study the experience of Diversity Atlas, a workplace survey tool created by the social enterprise Cultural Infusion. Instead of improving ethnic legibility, this survey tool socialises an unacceptable raciology that the census should avoid.

Automated summary

The Australian Government has announced a change in its census methodology, replacing ancestry with ethnicity as the basis for population enumeration from 2026. While advocates argue that this decision will contribute to improved social justice outcomes, it also reflects a desire to rigidly define diverse identities. Ethnic labels and the concept itself are inherently unstable, and the use of ethnic enumeration in previous census operations has caused confusion and social harm in Britain and other colonies. Advocates should consider this history and examine alternative approaches, like the Diversity Atlas survey tool, to avoid reinforcing unacceptable racial views.