Surprise finding as Generation Z flip on tradition in Body+Soul’s 2024 Sex Census

What’s really going on in Aussie bedrooms? The eye-opening results of the Body+Soul 2024 Sex Census are in – and Gen Z has finally had their say.

AFLW player Anne Hatchard and wife Georgie at their home in South Australia. Picture: Ben Clark

Anne Hatchard felt the love and support of her football teammates when the then-18-year-old Adelaide Crows draft pick came out.

Now 26, the star midfielder is lending that same emotional strength to her friends and fans on the footy field, through her volunteer work in schools and in her popular social media posts with wife, Georgie.

Hatchard credits the loving acceptance she feels and shares for a huge generational shift in her Generation Z.

One in three Zoomers now identifies their sexuality as something other than heterosexual, according to the latest Body+Soul 2024 Sex Census that takes an unprecedented peek into Australian bedrooms.

AFLW player Anne Hatchard (right) and wife Georgie … Hatchard says her teammates surrounded her in support when she came out aged 18. Picture: Ben Clark

Just 66 per cent of young adults describe themselves as heterosexual – compared to 91 per cent for their Baby Boomer grandparents and 80 per cent of the population in general.

The latest survey – the first in five years – studies the sex lives of more than 2000 readers aged 18 to 75-plus. It shows the number of Australians of all ages who identify as heterosexual has dropped from 85 per cent in 2019.

It’s the first time Gen Z has been included in the landmark study and it reveals they are debunking the traditions of sexuality, with 25 per cent – or one in four – identifying as bisexual, homosexual, pansexual or asexual. Another 8 per cent prefer not to say, have no label or identify as something else.

“Being in that Gen Z community has really been big for me to just be who I am,” said

Hatchard, an inaugural Crow who is playing in her seventh AFLW season and also works as an aircraft refueller at Adelaide Airport.

“Football was a very inclusive community for me, everyone was open in who they were. Not having to live a life where you can’t be yourself because it’s not the norm. To be able to come out when I was 18 and be myself from then has been a blessing, and not having to hide behind those feelings.

The couple married in Las Vagas ceremony led by an Elvis impersonator in January last year. Picture: Ben Clark

Georgie, a proud footy WAG who married her wife in a Las Vegas ceremony led by an Elvis impersonator in January last year, came out to her family after spending a year in the US playing basketball. Before then, she felt pressure to be heterosexual.

“I think there’s been a lot of progress,” said the 29-year-old.

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Hatchard’s path hasn’t been completely smooth-sailing. She was born the daughter of Mormons – her mum left the church when she was three and Anne herself did when she was 12 – and said her mum had always been supportive and “fine with” her sexuality.

Anne said she had believed for a long time that she had to force herself to “like boys”.

But she said that had changed for younger members of Gen Z.

“For kids growing up now, it’s not going to be ‘oh, it’s normal to be straight anymore’,” she said.

Body+Soul’s September 1 cover.

Dating expert Alita Brydon is not surprised Zoomers are growing in confidence. Picture: Penny Stephens

Writer and dating expert Alita Brydon, who founded the hugely popular Bad Dates of Melbourne and Bad Dates of Australia Facebook pages, said she was not surprised by the results for self-assured Gen Zers.

“I think the younger generation are growing in confidence and they’re more able to be themselves and I think that’s just wonderful,” said Ms Brydon, who started her page seven years ago to talk about her own disappointing dating experiences.

“I think that’s how people always been, it’s just that now we’re able to express who we are more openly. And I think the younger generation are becoming much more confident in being who they are than older generations and we really don’t give Gen Z credit for that, but they really are trailblazers and I think it’s a really wonderful thing that they’re able to express themselves as they are, who they are on the inside.”

SURVEY’S SHOCK REVELATIONS

The sweeping results of the sex census also reveals a shocking indifference to contraception, with one in four respondents saying they never use it and only 15 per cent saying they use it every time.

Other provocative revelations in the survey include:

– 11 per cent think checking out a stranger amounts to cheating and one in 10 say the same for liking a person’s social media posts;

– money is the source of most arguments for Aussie couples;

– one in four Australians say they would forgive their partner for cheating while 52 per cent say it is a deal-breaker; and

– 50 per cent say good hygiene is the most desirable characteristic in a potential partner, above sexual compatibility (37 per cent), looks and attractiveness (34 per cent) and intelligence (33 per cent).

Relationship expert Samantha Jayne says people “are just wanting that clean person who smells nice”. Picture: Tara Croser

Prioritising hygiene just behind humour (56 per cent) and shared values (51 per cent) comes as no surprise to Sydney relationships guru Samantha Jayne.

“I think bad hygiene is one of the most horrific things – the halitosis, the body odour, lack of personal care,” she says of the survey results, which rank respect (65 per cent), trustworthiness/honesty (62 per cent) and kindness (60 per cent) as the top characteristics that are most desirable in a partner.

“I think especially since Covid, when people were constantly using sanitiser, people are just wanting that clean person who smells nice.”

Don’t miss Body+Soul inside your Sunday paper on September 1 for more eye-opening results from the Body+Soul 2024 Sex Census, as we reveal what’s really going on in Aussie bedrooms. Read more here.