Labor reaffirms push to scrub gender from passports and birth certificates at national conference

One day after Bill Shorten declared an end to the culture wars, his own party has reaffirmed a push to scrub gender from passports and birth certificates.

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One day after Bill Shorten declared an end to the culture wars, his own party has reaffirmed a push to scrub gender from passports and birth certificates.

Mr Shorten has repeatedly talked down plans to review gender rules for ­official documents but on Monday, at Labor’s National Conference in Adelaide, the plan was put back in the party’s election platform and gained support from senior ALP members.

The review would investigate whether gender needs to be shown at all and “promote identification options beyond ­binary male and female”.

“Ensure that all people with intersex variations are able to exercise autonomy regarding sex/gender markers, and obtain identification options that match their sex characteristics and/or gender identities, as preferred,” the policy states.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten speaks during the introduction of the Reconciliation Action Plan on day two of the Labor Party National Conference in Adelaide. Picture: AAP

A spokeswoman for Mr Shorten said the Opposition Leader was still opposed to the policy, claiming the items ­approved at the conference were merely a guideline.

“We have no plans to make changes to gender on official documentation,” she said. “This is mostly a matter for state governments.”

The ALP’s election platform is considered to “outline key priorities for Labor over the coming years”. It is described as providing “members and supporters in the community with a clear statement of Labor’s beliefs, values and program for government”.

There is an expectation among members that governments adopt the policies or are moving towards doing so.

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Mr Shorten had kicked off the conference on Sunday with an impassioned vow to abandon what he described as “culture wars” to instead focus on real issues.

But Senator Louise Pratt said she supported the guidelines and hoped a review would be held if Labor was elected.

“We report on people’s identity and what they do in the world, and sometimes it is important and sometimes it is not,” she said. “There are plenty of times when such information is unnecessary and stereotyping people into certain gender roles.”

Labor Senator Louise Pratt supports the guidelines and hopes for a review if Labor is elected.

Ms Pratt said removing the need to put gender on official documents would help more than just intersex people.

“We want both men and women to participate without gender being the most important thing — it is more than just the transgender issue,” she said.

Former Rainbow Labor convener Neil Pharaoh — who seconded the motion — said he wanted a Shorten government to support the policy.

Former Rainbow Labor convener Neil Pharaoh seconded the motion.

Meanwhile, Labor has retreated from an earlier push to criminalise sexuality conversion therapies.

An amendment passed that removed the word “criminalise” from the policy.