Tasmanian parents will need to opt-in to have their baby’s gender recorded on the birth certificate

Tasmanian parents who want their child’s sex recorded on their birth certificate will need to apply for it under revised reforms.

Speaker Sue Hickey has not said which way she will vote, but is broadly supportive of reform to reduce transgender discrimination. Picture: Peter Mathew

Parents who want their child’s sex recorded on their birth certificate will have to apply to have this occur, if revised reforms designed to bolster transgender rights pass Tasmania’s parliament.

Labor and the Greens earlier today released 14 pages of amendments to state legislation aimed at improving the rights of transgender Tasmanians.

One of the nine amendments reflects Labor’s revised policy to give parents the choice of whether or not their baby’s sex is recorded on the child’s birth certificate.

However, the amendment wording reveals parents would have to apply to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for this to occur; making it effectively an opt-in system for those wanting their baby’s sex recorded.

That prompted claims by the Liberal government of another policy shift by Labor, which originally backed removing sex from birth certificates altogether, before proposing parental choice.

The changes, along with allowing people to change their official gender via statutory declaration, rather than having to undergo gender realignment surgery, will pass if backed by Speaker Sue Hickey.

Ms Hickey, a Liberal who votes independently since taking the speaker’s chair with the aid of Labor and the Greens in May, has not said which way she will vote, but is broadly supportive of reform to reduce transgender discrimination.

This afternoon she voted with Labor and the Greens to debate the amendments, which the government argues are an attempt to “hijack” a Liberal bill to bring state laws into line with federal marriage equality.

While the government argued Labor had again shifted its position on birth certificates, the party’s justice spokeswoman, Ella Haddad, denied this, saying the latest amendment was in-line with parental choice.

Ms Haddad told The Australian parents who wanted the sex of their child recorded would apply to the registrar through the “normal process” associated with the printing of birth certificates.

She suggested this could be as simple as ticking a box on a form, while Labor leader Rebecca White accused the government of seeking to prevent “minor and administrative” changes to “protect the rights of Tasmanians who are often the most marginalised in our community”.

However, Liberal Attorney-General Elise Archer said the Labor and Greens amendments, only revealed in their final form this afternoon, were poorly drafted and could have unforeseen legal consequences.

“The government prefers to refer this to the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute … because there are significant drafting flaws and legal consequences; things that need to be considered,” Ms Archer told parliament.

She warned the government’s bill — to remove the need for people to divorce in order to change their gender — risked being held up by opposition parties “hijacking” it in an attempt to force untested, broader changes.

This could leave the state non-compliant with a deadline next month for states to bring their laws into line with the amended federal Marriage Act.

After initially moving to bring on other legislation, the government last night agreed to full debate on the amendments into tonight.