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Identity

WA Considers Non-Binary Option for Newborn Babies' Birth Certificates

The state's Law Reform Commission wants to change the way we recognise gender.
Gavin Butler
Melbourne, AU
Image via Shutterstock

The Western Australian Law Reform Commission has proposed a number of changes around the way the state recognises gender. Among them: suggestions that gender be left off birth certificates, and that gender classifications be expanded to include a non-binary third option.

The legislation currently states that children must be assigned one of two genders by their parents within the first 60 days, which is then printed onto the child’s birth certificate. But under the proposed changes, the gender field on birth certificates would be left blank, and one of three classifications—male, female, or non-binary—would instead be lodged in a confidential state register.

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In doing so, the report hopes to address issues of discrimination against intersex people, and to absolve parents of the pressure involved in having to nominate their child’s gender. The report notes that “the intersex community is concerned with the practice of medical, especially surgical, intervention being used to ‘normalise’ a child’s sex characteristics”, and that they “would prefer that parents are not required to classify the sex of their child when registering their child’s birth.

“The Commission’s proposed model is consistent with this suggestion.”

Other proposed changes include doing away with the need for a person to undergo a medical procedure in order to have their gender officially recognised, allowing a person to change their gender three times within their lifetime before having to seek approval from a court, and letting minors from the age of 12 apply to formally change their gender.

While these suggestions are bound to incite backlash, chair of the WALRC Dr David Cox pointed out that it’s unlikely the changes would have any real impact on the vast majority of Australians, the ABC reported.

“It’s not going to affect the fabric of society,” he said. “It’s not doing anything really but it’s going to make life a lot easier for a small group of people.”