Australians can now retroactively change the gender on their birth certificate in one state, even before gender reassignment surgery, and hundreds have already done so.
Nearly 250 Queenslanders, including 11 children, have applied to legally change the gender of their… birth certificate after changes to the relevant law, the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 2023, came into effect on June 24.
These changes removed the requirement for people undergo sexual reassignment surgery before formally registering a gender change.
The law also allows the gender of a child under 16 to be changed through a request of the parents or through the Juvenile Court.
A birth certificate It is a legal document that gives legal and official recognition to a person’s identified gender in Queensland..
One month after the updated law came into force 247 applications for gender change have been submitted and 142 have been completed so far.
Two-thirds of completed applications were considered Changes from men to women, another trimester from female to male, and less than 10 percent were for another gender term.
Under the new laws, two parents of the same sex or simply the term “parent” can also be included on a child’s birth certificate (fewer than 10 applications have been submitted for this so far).
Children under 16 can now change their gender on their birth certificate in Queensland
Emily Wells, 61, who lives in Tennant Creek, was one of the first to apply to change her birth certificate.
‘“It’s really hard to explain the euphoria. To me, it’s righting something that was wrong 60 years ago,” Wells said. he told the Courier Mail.
Ms. Wells, who has been trying to officially change her gender since 2004, received her amended birth certificate on July 5.
He said he was in talks with the state government for seven years before he was able to submit his application.
“When I got the certificate, it finally meant that I have the final legal document confirming who I am,” she said.
‘I was part of the campaign and it had to be open and forthcoming… but the reason I did it and why I pushed for it is for future generations because it’s going to help a lot of people, particularly younger trans people.’
Emily Wells, 61, who lives in Tennant Creek, was one of the first to apply for a change to her birth certificate after Queensland updated its laws on June 24.
Ms. Wells predicted that there would eventually be thousands of applications.
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said Queensland was one of the last states to remove “cruel and outdated” legal barriers to identification.
“The fact that hundreds of people have already applied to change their birth certificate to reflect who they really are shows how important this is to some people and how long they have waited,” Brown told the publication.
