Western Australia will not proceed with plans to remove gender off birth certificates.

The issue was considered in light of a range of changes around gender reassignment laws.

A separate gender identity certificate to apply for basic government documents and services was suggested as an alternative, by the WA Law Reform Commission.

The government has now decided against the move over concerns how residents would apply for documents such as passports, The West Australian reported.

The West Australian Government confirmed gender would remain on birth certificates

While The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade successfully argued against gender-free birth certificates, Labor frontbencher Sue Ellery said parents should still be permitted to leave certificates blank for babies born with an 'indeterminate' sex

The decision follows a new law passed in the Northern Territory which gave parents the ability to register their newborns in one of a number of gender categories, including 'undefined.'

The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2018 also removed the requirement for people to have undergone sexual reassignment surgery to change their sex.

Transgender people can now register a change of 'sex or gender identity' rather than a change of sex only.

The Northern Territory passed a new law gaving parents the ability to register their newborns in a number of gender categories, including 'undefined.'

DFAT currently issues non-gendered Australian passports, with options for female (F), male(M) or for 'intersex/indeterminate/unspecified'(X).



