In Australia’s 2020–2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 43.9% of LGB+ respondents recorded high or very high psychological distress, compared with 15.4% of heterosexual respondents. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) published the result in February 2024. It measures distress, not diagnosed mental illness, and does not show that sexual orientation causes distress.
What the ABS survey found
The ABS article Mental health findings for LGBTQ+ Australians reports results from interviews conducted for the 2020–2022 National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Its headline comparison is the share of respondents whose psychological distress fell in the high or very high range:
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| Group | High or very high psychological distress |
|---|---|
| LGB+ respondents | 43.9% |
| Heterosexual respondents | 15.4% |
| Gay or lesbian respondents | 28.6% |
| Bisexual respondents | 51.5% |
These figures describe the groups and measure reported by the ABS; they should not be read as a rate for every LGBTQ+ population. The ABS uses “LGB+” for respondents who described their sexual orientation as gay or lesbian, bisexual, or another term such as asexual, pansexual or queer. The article treats sexual orientation and gender separately, and says reliable mental-health estimates could not be produced for people born with variations of sex characteristics or respondents who reported their sex at birth using another term. ABS results also include margins of error, so small differences should not be treated as exact rankings.
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The ABS used the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), a ten-question measure about how often a respondent experienced particular emotional states during the four weeks before the interview. Responses range from “none of the time” to “all of the time.” The ABS describes the K10 as an indicator of distress, not a diagnostic tool. A high or very high K10 result therefore does not mean that a respondent was diagnosed with a mental illness.
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Distress is different from a mental-disorder measure
The ABS reports other outcomes separately, with different definitions and time windows. For example, its 2024 article says 74.5% of LGB+ respondents had experienced a mental disorder at some point in their lives, compared with 41.7% of heterosexual respondents. That lifetime measure is not the same as distress in the four weeks before an interview.
The ABS’s National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020–2022 also reports a 12-month mental-disorder measure: 58.7% for LGB+ respondents and 19.9% for heterosexual respondents. In the same study, 33.1% of transgender respondents and 21.3% of cisgender respondents had a 12-month mental disorder. These figures concern survey-classified mental disorders over a year, not the K10 distress threshold. The ABS cautions that group rates may be influenced by differences in age structure and other social, economic or health circumstances.
Newer data provide context, not a direct trend comparison
The ABS’s 2025 General Social Survey, published in its 2025 summary results, found very high psychological distress among 18% of people identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual, compared with 9% of Australians overall. This is a newer snapshot, but it cannot be directly compared with the 43.9% versus 15.4% result as evidence of change: the population categories differ, and the 2025 figure uses a very-high threshold rather than the earlier high-or-very-high threshold.
What the disparity can—and cannot—tell us
The surveys show differences in reported outcomes; they do not establish one cause. Healthdirect says that being LGBTIQA+ itself does not cause mental illness, and notes that distress can be related to experiences such as stigma, discrimination—including homophobia or transphobia—and abuse. These are important contexts, not causes proved by the ABS comparison.
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Access to supportive care matters too. In the 2020–2022 study, 46.8% of LGB+ respondents said they had seen a health professional for their mental health in the previous 12 months, compared with 16.0% of heterosexual respondents. More service use does not, by itself, explain why the groups differ or establish whether people received the support they needed. The National Mental Health Commission has called for safe, culturally sensitive mainstream and community-based options for LGBTIQA+ communities.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Finding support in Australia
If you or someone you know needs support, the ABS lists these services. Contact details and hours can change, so check the service website or the ABS article for current information.
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For more information about LGBTIQA+ mental health and support, see Healthdirect’s LGBTIQA+ mental health guidance.
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