The Hon Andrew Leigh MP
Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
ABC RADIO SYDNEY, MORNINGS WITH HAMISH MCDONALD
TUESDAY, 11 AUGUST 2026
SUBJECTS: 2026 Census; migration; gambling reform
HAMISH MCDONALD: Andrew Leigh is the federal Assistant Minister responsible for the Census. Good morning to you.
ANDREW LEIGH: Good morning Hamish, great to be with you.
HAMISH MCDONALD: More than three and a half million households have already done a form for this year. There’s still another seven million, I think, that have to complete it tonight. Tell us about how the logistics of this works? Because it’s described as the largest peacetime logistics operation that any government engages in?
ANDREW LEIGH: It really is huge, Hamish. For many of us, we’ll just be doing it online and not interacting in person. But there’s 30,000 Census workers out there focusing principally on vulnerable populations and hard-to-reach populations. So, they’ll be contacting people who are homeless, people in prisons, people in aged care centres, in remote communities. And the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been doing this since 1911 so it has a huge amount of experience about how to get as many people as possible. And of course, their goal is a response rate of 100 per cent.
HAMISH MCDONALD: And so should we be expecting doorknocks?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, if somebody has responded using a paper form in the past, then the ABS knows that and they’re reaching out to those people. There’s large print and braille forms that they’re sending out, but for most people they will have just received that standard Census form in the mail and they’ll be logging on to do their Census online. If you know where you’re going to be tonight, you can do it right now. As you said, three and a half million people have already done that. And if you’re completely unable to do it tonight, of course you can do it tomorrow and just fill in the details for Tuesday night.
HAMISH MCDONALD: I suspect many listeners will remember the Census fail as it was known in 2016. There were these small-scale cyber attacks that shut down the website for 40 hours. Are you confident going into this evening that the tech will work?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, the attacks are tougher than ever before and certainly there’s been the use of artificial intelligence by rogue actors, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics is aware of. They’ve worked very closely with our intelligence agencies and cyber security bodies in order to do all they can in order to be on top of this. It’s been an ongoing conversation that I’ve had with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, getting regular briefings and updates about the work that they’re doing. So they’re very alive to the cyber threat.
HAMISH MCDONALD: Talk to us about the new questions that are included, like for example, questions on sexual orientation. I know kids being asked to answer that from 16 years and up. I imagine that’s a kind of tricky bit of territory for young people to be getting into. Obviously, there was quite a significant campaign to have these questions added to the Census. But complexity there?
ANDREW LEIGH: There’s a ‘prefer not to answer’ option so someone who wants to choose that option is welcome to do so. But the questions have been added because this is a vulnerable population and it’s important to understand where LGBTQ+ populations are around Australia in order to provide appropriate service provision. This is something that other countries are doing, so in the Canadian Census this year they’re preparing to collect the same sort of data. So, we’re following with other countries in adding these questions to our Census.
HAMISH MCDONALD: Yeah, I’ve got to say as a 17-year-old, I would have absolutely died if my parents had wanted me to tick a form in front of them about that kind of question.
ANDREW LEIGH: People have the opportunity to have an individual form and, of course, you can separate out and just take the device into your own room as you fill in your portion of the Census. But again, there’s that ‘prefer not to answer’ option if people feel uncomfortable with those questions.
HAMISH MCDONALD: Obviously religion is a feature – has been a feature for a long time. I was interested to read the issue that’s been raised around Judaism not being an option. Is that strange, that people can’t select that, they have to put ‘other’?
ANDREW LEIGH: The religion question is basically being asked in the form this Census as it has been in previous censuses. The top 10 religions from the previous Census are listed. Judaism wasn’t among the top 10 religions in the 2021 Census, so it doesn’t appear in that top 10 list. But it’s not a value judgement by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in deciding how to structure the question, which is something the ABS decides on. They’ve simply chosen those top 10 religions from the 2021 Census.
HAMISH MCDONALD: Andrew Leigh is here ahead of the Census tonight. I know a lot of people do have questions, sort of troubleshooting questions. We’ve heard from lots of people about the logistics of what happens if you’re changing location or you’ve prefilled but then someone turns up at your house. Is there a place you can go to have these sorts of questions answered?
ANDREW LEIGH: Absolutely. You can go to census.gov.au or call the helpline – 1800 181 227.
HAMISH MCDONALD: I did want to ask you a question about migration. The Labor Premier of New South Wales has been talking about it this morning ahead of Tony Burke’s cancelled but still-planned speech on changes to migration policy. Here’s what Chris Minns said to Craig on Breakfast on 702.
[Excerpt]
CHRIS MINNS: I think for valid and understandable reasons they’ve said that it can’t – we can’t have the same levels that were inbound in Australia in the immediate aftermath of the COVID pandemic, and I support that. I mean, I think that half a million people coming into the country in a single year overwhelmed our services and had a massive impact on the price of housing, the price of rents and put pressure on our public services.
[End excerpt]
HAMISH MCDONALD: Obviously, the Census is an opportunity to measure a lot of this stuff. But do you as a government acknowledge that cities like Sydney have just felt too squeezed in recent years? Is that part of why you’re changing the policies?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, we had a report that was handed down from Martin Parkinson, which made clear that our migration system was broken, and we’ve set about remaking that with a 10-year plan. The permanent migration target is exactly the same level as it’s been – 185,000. Where you’re getting variation from is Australians returning from overseas and temporary migration. We’ve made a 45 per cent cut to net migration and made clear that we need to prioritise skilled migrants. More than half of our doctors…
HAMISH MCDONALD: But it’s those temporary numbers that do tend to fluctuate and balloon from time to time, right? And that’s where – it seems to be where the government is identifying a pressure point?
ANDREW LEIGH: That’s right. And so, we’ve brought down some of the student visas, focusing that on universities and some of the more accredited sources of training. We’re recognising the challenges of backpackers, although of course, backpackers are also an important source of labour in some of the agricultural industries. And we’re also looking to really focus on the migrant areas where there’s an area of need. Part of that in the Budget was about making sure that migrants with construction skills can get on the tools faster. That’s not about whether they come; it’s about how quickly they can get on to building sites once they’re here.
HAMISH MCDONALD: On gambling reforms, the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader Angus Taylor, meeting again today. It’s understood they’re trying to negotiate a pathway forward on this. I know the government, your colleagues keep saying, ‘Look, we feel we’ve got the balance broadly right. There might be room for some tweaks here’. But who’s actually clamouring for more relaxed regulations around this stuff, other than the betting companies, the TV networks and the sporting codes? I mean, is there a big public clamouring for a looser hand when it comes to regulation on this?
ANDREW LEIGH: Hamish, I think this is being about the policy rather than the politics. This is Australia’s biggest ever crackdown on gambling. I want to see fewer gambling ads on TV. I don’t want to see Australians being exposed to as many gambling ads as we are at the moment. Getting those gambling logos off jerseys…
HAMISH MCDONALD: But under the current policy changes that you’re putting forward, there would be more ads allowed?
ANDREW LEIGH: Well, this is going to see a significant reduction in ads in practice. We know that in terms of the impact both online and on free-to-air TV…
HAMISH MCDONALD: But hang on, free TV had indicated at that Senate hearing that your policy actually went further than even what they’d asked for in terms of the relaxation of these rules?
ANDREW LEIGH: Hamish, this is a huge crackdown on gambling – the biggest crackdown…
HAMISH MCDONALD: Do you really believe that, Andrew?
ANDREW LEIGH: I certainly do. This strengthens BetStop. We get a ban on gambling signage on fields and on jerseys. We get significant constraints in terms of the number of gambling ads. And as the Prime Minister has said, we’re open to conversations around dealing with issues such as improper inducements. It is important that we…
HAMISH MCDONALD: But why not switch to opt in? Like, if people really want these ads, why not switch to an opt-in model?
ANDREW LEIGH: Look, there are conversations taking place at the moment. I’m aware that the Prime Minister is engaged in those and Minister Anika Wells has been meeting her counterparts yesterday. We are up for a conversation about how to make this work. But it’s important to get it done. And the suggestion that the Coalition and the Greens were making last week that we just walk away and do nothing I think is utterly untenable.
HAMISH MCDONALD: I don’t think they were suggesting that, were they? They were just saying that this is – the policy you’ve put forward is insufficient?
ANDREW LEIGH: As I interpreted it last week, they appeared to be suggesting that the status quo was better than the government’s package. I’m pleased that both appear to now be engaging in constructive conversations this week. I think that’s good for the country. I think we need less gambling ads out there and the government will deliver that.
HAMISH MCDONALD: Andrew Leigh, thank you very much for your time this morning. We appreciate it.
ANDREW LEIGH: Thanks so much, Hamish.
ENDS