New Report Says Almost 1 Million Voters in 2025 Election Are LGBTQIA+
Image: James Ross/AAP
Almost 1 million LGBTQIA+ voters will take to the polls in the federal election this year, with 1 in 5 still undecided, a new report has found.
Equality Australia have today released their 2025 Rainbow Votes report, surveying over 5000 LGBTQIA+ people to identify the issues that matter most to queer voters. including those in report areas, regional towns, and cities in every state and territory.
“Parties and independents can’t take LGBTIQ+ voters for granted and they should be working hard to win back voters and build support among those who are undecided,” said Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown.
“These results send a very important message – you must earn our votes through meaningful policy commitments.”
Although LGBTQIA+ voters share similar concerns to other Australians, such as the environment and the cost of living, respondents said LGBTQIA+ issues were their top national priority, with 95 per cent of people surveyed saying the issue was important to them in deciding their vote.
Of LGBTQIA+ issues, participants deemed the banning of conversion practices to be the most important, followed by improved protection from discrimination, and the ending of unnecessary, con-consensual medical treatments on intersex people.
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LGBTQIA+ people are generally united on issues that matter to them, even policy issues that do not personally affect them.
“Even amid the economic pressures of the cost-of-living crisis, LGBTIQ+ voters remain deeply focussed on how policy issues for our community will shape our lives and our futures,” Brown said.
“This change may reflect concerns about global anti-rights movements as well as frustration over the lack of progress on key issues affecting LGBTIQ+ people.”
LGBTQIA+ voters a “powerful voting bloc”
5.5 per cent of Australian voters identify as LGBQIA+, representing nearly 1 million people.
The report stressed that this number did not capture voters who are allies, who may shift their vote depending on a party’s position on LGBTQIA+ issues.
“We represent a powerful voting bloc,” said Brown. “Together with our allies we have the collective strength to influence policy directions and electoral outcomes.”
“Our voices matter, our votes count, and our community’s concerns deserve to be addressed with substantive policy solutions.”
Of the 5500 respondents, about 36.7 per cent said they will change their vote from the previous election, with more than 20 per cent remaining undecided, showing an increase in voter indecision since the 2022 report.
The Greens voters were the most stable in their voting intentions, with high retention rates from the 2022 election to the upcoming 2025 election.
This year’s report also includes a score card on the three years since the last federal election, finding the current federal government to have made significant strides on LGBTQIA+ health and responses to domestic violence. However, Labor did fail to protect LGBTQIA+ students and teachers in religious schools, despite their election commitment in 2022, an issue that resonates strongly with voters.
“Given the high rates of discrimination and stigma we experience it’s unsurprising that strengthening protections remains a top priority, including in religious schools where they can still legally expel a queer student or sack a gay teacher,” said Brown.
Equality Australia will be hosting a Rainbow Votes Election Forum in Sydney on April 15, giving LGBTIQ+ people around the country the chance to hear political representatives discuss the issues that matter most to them.
Registration is free and can be accessed online.
Voting block? That would be nice. LGBT+, socially aware and concerned about the environment. That would be great. But IMHO this is a constructed bubble. Many gays and lesbians are well earning double income owner who care more about their economic situation than about society.
Hello Tim Wilson …