Andy Meddick considers himself to be an open-minded bloke, which is why he was surprised by his own reaction when his child Eden came out as transgender.

Key points: Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick will back a bill to change Victoria's birth certificate laws

Animal Justice Party MP Andy Meddick will back a bill to change Victoria's birth certificate laws His child, Eden, said making it easier to change the gender on the birth certificate would be "very affirming"

His child, Eden, said making it easier to change the gender on the birth certificate would be "very affirming" The Coalition has not yet formed a position on the bill, which it opposed in 2016

"Mum and Dad didn't exactly have the best reaction when I first came out as trans," Eden said.

But when Victoria's Parliament resumes in August, Mr Meddick will be in a position to help change the law to make his 20-year-old child's life easier.

Mr Meddick is now an Animal Justice Party MP on the Upper House's crucial crossbench, and he will back a bill to give transgender people greater freedom to change their gender on their birth certificate.

Eden is now 20 and first realised during his teens that he was transgender.

But when he first raised challenging his binary identity with his parents, it was something that shocked the Animal Justice Party MP and his wife, April.

"It was a bit of a dark time, but I'm glad to have come out of it," Eden said.

His father said he had always thought of his family as open-minded and caring.

"We had always had open and honest discussions about different sexualities and things like that," Mr Meddick said.

"And yet, it was something that we were — like most people I think — completely unprepared for. It just took a little bit of adjustment."

Laws before the Parliament would make it easier for people to change the gender recorded on their birth certificate to male, female or any other gender descriptor of their choice, without surgery.

Eden said the changes would help trans people who did not want to change their body. ( ABC News: Richard Willingham )

Mr Meddick is now a fierce advocate for the change and said it would reflect how diverse modern society is.

For Eden, these changes would make life much easier.

"In our society and stuff, your birth certificate is involved with pretty much everything," Eden said.

"And so for it to say, you know, who you actually are, it's very affirming," Eden said.

'Not all of us want our body sculpted'

Currently, Victorians can only change their birth certificate after they have undergone gender reassignment surgery.

Eden has had surgery on the upper half of his body but does not want any more, or to go through hormone treatment.

This rule is particularly important, he said.

"It also helps a lot of my friends and just a lot of trans people in general, because not all of us want our body sculpted and every frame to the binary idea of what a man and a woman is," he said.

Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia have all already removed the requirement for surgery to occur before a birth certificate gender is changed.

The bill was first introduced in 2016, when it was opposed by the Coalition and failed to pass.

The Opposition at the time argued the bill "went too far and was driven by ideology".

With Mr Meddick, the Greens and Reason Party all supporting the bill, the Government should have enough votes in the Upper House to make the changes.

But the laws are divisive in the Coalition, which is yet to adopt a position on the bill. It said it would have one developed before Parliament resumed in August.

"Changing your birth certificate is a very significant step and one that shouldn't be done lightly," Shadow Attorney-General Edward O'Donohue said.

Some opponents are concerned that the bill would allow people to change their status every year.