New birth certificate reform: People can change genders every 12 months

Queensland could soon allow people to change their gender every 12 months and make ‘mother’ and ‘father’ optional on birth certificates. SEE WHY.

People would be allowed to change their gender every 12 months, while the terms ‘mother’ and ‘father’ would be optional, under a proposed radical shake-up of birth certificates.

Bureaucrats in Queensland outlined details of what their state’s new birth certificate could look like to two women’s groups earlier this month, in a meeting described as a “high level overview of current thinking”.

A Queensland Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesman confirmed they were looking at making changes to “improve recognition for trans and gender diverse people”.

The women who attended the meeting said they understood the government was considering removing sex from the document.

Instead, people would be able to choose any descriptor for their gender as long as it was not obscene, contained offensive language, symbols, numbers, or was too long or “contrary to the public interest”.

A birth certificate review is underway in Queensland. Picture: iStock

While current legislation in Queensland requires people to have undergone surgery to change gender, the women said they were told that might be scrapped.

NSW is the only other state that requires gender-affirming surgery in order to change gender on a birth certificate.

The women said the Queensland proposals would also allow anyone over the age of 16 to self-identify as another gender if they had a supporting statement from someone who had known them for at least 12 months stating the application was being made in good faith.

There would also be opportunities for those aged 12 to 16 to change their gender identity, if they had support from one or both parents. Depending on the case they may need evidence from a child development practitioner and backing from the courts.

Under 12s would need the support of at least both parents to be able to start the process.

“It was really shocking to hear what they want to do,” International Women’s Day Brisbane Meanjin representative Kelly Carr said.

“As a mother, when I heard that using mother on the birth certificate was optional, I nearly fell off my chair.”

Changes to birth certificates are being considered by the Queensland government. Picture: iStock

She said as far as they understood it, the proposed new certificate would list birthing parent and parent, or parent one and parent two, and the answer could be multiple choice with applicants writing mother, father or parent next to those boxes.

Fellow IWD member Helen Waite, a retired professor, said the fact that there was no lifetime limit to the number of times a person could change their identity made a mockery of the idea that people could be born into the wrong gender.

“We got a shock when we were told you’d be able to change your birth certificate once every 12 months because gender is fluid,” she said.

“This is a core identity document.

“How can you be able to continually change it?”

The women said the June 15 meeting included officers from Strategic Policy, the Office for Women and Violence Prevention and the Attorney-General, as part of a consultation process for the Births, Deaths And Marriages Registration Act Legislative Review.

As well as the IWD members, two representatives from Fair Go For Women Queensland were invited.

Coalition for Biological Reality founder Stassja Frei. Picture: Supplied

Biological Reality Founder Stassja Frei said “trans lobbyists have perfected what they wanted” if the Birth, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act Legislative Review passes.

She said other states had already made changes to their birth certificates.

“Tasmania and Victoria are first attempts and (the trans lobbyists) got most of what they wanted,” Ms Frei said.

“It seems in Queensland they’ve gone one step further.

“The public service all across Australia is completely captured by this ideology.

“It’s a belief system that people can change sex.

“It’s a really dangerous belief system for girls and women because it compromises safety.”

A Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokesman said while there was no proposal being considered which would see the removal of the terms ‘mother’ and ‘father’ from the birth certificate, there would be “additional options”.

“Consideration is being given to additional options to allow same sex couples to register as mother/mother or father/father, if they choose to,” the spokesman said.

“If this change was adopted, it would align Queensland with other jurisdictions.”

He said the review aimed to “ensure registration services in Queensland remain relevant, responsive and contemporary”.