The federal government has declared they won’t allow any states to remove gender from birth certificates.
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The declaration comes after Tasmania debated the optional removal of gender from birth certificates.
Data would still be recorded in terms of the sex of a person, but the changes would allow parents to choose if they wanted the sex to be recorded on the certificate.
Liberal and Speaker Sue Hickey crossed the floor to vote in favour of the changes.
This meant the bill was to move to the upper house for debate in 2019.
Earlier this year the ACT removed the requirement for a parent’s gender to be specified and a few years ago introduced legislation to allow people to change their gender on birth certificates without the need for gender reassignment surgery.
Tasmania’s legislation is similar but goes one step further in removing the need for gender on the certificates.
Both drivers licences and passports allow people to mark gender as non-binary.
Last week the Western Australian Government announced it would no longer pursue the same plans as Tasmania.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the data was essential for planning in Australia.
“Governments at all levels use it for planning including where hospitals and schools go. It’s used by housing developers,” he told media.
“It will make planning exceptionally difficult for the Department of Health which has to make decisions about where obstetrics wards go and fertility services.
“We provide cervical cancer vaccines for free. How will we know how many to order?
“Cervical cancer doesn’t care about how you identify, it cares about whether you have a cervix.”
These comments show an ignorance of what is proposed for Tasmania. Gender on birth certificates would be optional, but the recording of data would not change.
Gender reform and how the lives of those impacted can be improved is a necessary conversation. It’s a conversation that could save lives. We must have talks with respect and with informed commentary.