Sex and gender reforms coming

Personal records will have the option of male, female or X if proposed guidelines from the federal government go ahead.

The government revealed its draft guidelines on the recognition of sex and gender last week while the ACT government announced its own reforms.

The federal Attorney-General’s Department is now calling for feedback on the new guidelines which are consistent with Australian passports that were changed in 2011.

Submissions close on April 19 and the guidelines will take effect from July 1 this year.

Under the guidelines, sex reassignment surgery and/or hormone therapy will no longer be pre-requisites for a change of gender on Australian government records.

The new guidelines were based off findings from the 2009 Sex Files report that found people who were sex and/or gender diverse faced difficulties in having their identity recognised. The report recommended national guidelines concerning the collection of sex and gender information.

Sex and gender reforms are also underway in the ACT after the territory’s Attorney-General Simon Corbell (pictured) announced new measures to make sex or gender identity recognition easier.

Last week, Corbell announced the government’s response to an ACT Law Reform Advisory Council report which include removing sexual reassignment surgery as a requirement for changing someone’s registered sex.

Over the coming year, the government will amend legislation and data collection practices by public authorities to be more accessible to transgender and intersex people.

It will also extend the time allowed for registration of the birth of a child, including their sex.

“This will address pressures faced by parents of intersex babies, where decisions about registration of the child’s sex can be complex,” Corbell said.