Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We live in an era where information flows faster than ever before. Protecting what little privacy we have left is so important. Every day we're asked to share more and more of our personal details, which often go far beyond what's necessary. Every year, Australians do the right thing. They fill out and return their tax forms, abiding by the law and contributing to the system that supports our nation. As a government, we have a responsibility to do the right thing by them, to respect their privacy and to protect their personal information.

Recently, a constituent of mine contacted me to discuss something that caught his attention: on page eight of the tax return for individuals in 2025, there is a question asking applicants to specify their spouse's gender. The options are male, female or intermediate. He started to wonder why this question is asked when, both earlier and later in the form, it asks for your spouse's date of birth, first name and surname—therefore having all the details.

One has to ask: Why? Why is this question in there? Why does the ATO need to know the gender of your spouse? What purpose does this serve? Does it affect the amount of tax you pay? Does one receive a benefit for being in a heterosexual relationship? Does one receive a benefit for being in a same-sex relationship? Or is there a penalty for being in either one of those relationships? Of course not—so why is this question there?

Why is this question there? That's what this constituent is asking. This issue, as I said, was raised by a constituent in Adelaide, who wrote to me with genuine concern, and I couldn't agree more with their questions. We're told to accept people for who they are, to respect diversity and individuality, yet here we are asking Australians to disclose personal details that have absolutely no relevance to their tax obligations.

This is not a census. This is a tax return. It's not the census that we do every few years, where we want to know lots of details. It is a tax return form. Its purpose is to calculate income and ensure compliance with tax law, not to collect unnecessary demographic data. So I ask again: what does the gender of a spouse have to do with claiming one's taxed income?

As I said, we live in a society overflowing with information. Every click, every form and every interaction leaves a digital footprint. With that comes a responsibility—a responsibility to ask only what is necessary and nothing more. If we do not need to know, then we should not ask. The gender of your spouse does not matter in the context of a tax return, so why should it be included in the 2026 tax return form? It shouldn't.

I've written to the Assistant Treasurer to ask these questions and to ask why this is in there, and hopefully I'll have an answer soon. We must protect what little privacy remains, because once it's gone we will never get it back.