Trans People In VIC Will Be Able To Change Their Sex On Birth Certificates Without Surgery

Victoria’s state government passed reforms on Tuesday evening that will allow transgender and gender-diverse people in the state to change the sex on their birth certificate.

Previously, the state required people undergo gender reassignment surgery in order to make such changes.

The Births, Deaths, and Marriages Registration Amendment Bill will give people the option to choose how their sex displayed on their birth certificates. They will also be able to self-nominate as male, female, or multiple other non-binary options.

Attorney General Jill Hennessy called the reforms a “small thing to many” that “means a world of difference to someone else.”

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The changes brought on by the bill bring the state in line with Tasmania, the NT, South Australia, and the ACT. Tasmania was the first state to bring in such reforms back in April.

Martin Foley, Victoria Labor’s minister for mental health, equality, and creative industries, said the reform was making good on a promise made after an older version of the bill was voted down in 2016.

“We promised to come back and get it done,” he wrote on Twitter. “And tonight we did.”

“Congratulations to all those who fought hard and long for this reform. We say it often (and we will keep saying it until we no longer need to) in Victoria, equality is not negotiable.”

The amended bill will now go to the Governor for royal assent, having passed the Victorian upper house 26-14.

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