Big changes for Queensland birth certificates

Queensland birth certificates are in for a major shake-up under legislation proposed by the Palaszczuk government. VOTE IN OUR POLL

Queensland Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Queenslanders will be able to change their sex on their birth certificates without undergoing sexual reassignment surgery under legislation proposed by the Palaszczuk government.

And two mothers or two fathers can be listed on a birth certificate under the impending legal shake-up.

The long-foreshadowed laws will be introduced to state parliament this week, with the reforms expected to come into effect from 2024.

Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said the changes were about ensuring a person’s legal identity matched their “lived identity”.

The laws will remove the existing requirement for trans and gender diverse people to undergo sexual reassignment surgery before formally registering a change of sex on their birth certificates.

“The current requirement unnecessarily medicalises the recognition of a person’s lived identity, and surgery can be inaccessible and unaffordable as it is not covered by Medicare,” Ms Fentiman said.

Under the current laws, a birth certificate can only list one person as a mother or a father. This will be changed so two fathers or two mothers can be listed on the document.

“This will ensure that same-sex and gender diverse parents are able to record a descriptor on their child’s birth certificate that correctly reflects their parenting role,” Ms Fentiman said.

“This legislation will modernise … birth certificates to better recognise and reflect our diverse community.”

Roz Dickson changed her birth certificate after having gender reassignment surgery but says she would have changed it sooner had the law allowed her. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Roz Dickson, 57, transitioned from a male to a female in 2012. She changed her birth certificate after undergoing sexual reassignment surgery.

Ms Dickson, an electrician, said she would have changed the certificate earlier if she had been allowed to do so before undergoing surgery.

“If you’re presenting in society as one way, I don’t see how maintaining something contrary to that on a birth certificate is actually very useful to society either – let alone the person themselves,” she said.

“I think for a person who either for medical reasons or for financial reasons cannot undergo the surgery but is desiring of having the birth certificate changed, I think it will make a world of difference for them.”

The new laws will also allow for the sex of a child under the age of 16 to be changed on their birth certificate, by requiring parents to apply to the registrar or by going through the Children’s Court.