In a proposal that's guaranteed to make talkback radio, the Western Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended leaving gender off birth certificates, as well as adding a third official option of non-binary.

Under current laws, children are assigned a gender by their parents before they reach 60 days of age. Critics say this is discriminatory to intersex people, places pressure on parents to nominate a gender, and makes officially changing a gender more arduous, as it means a change of birth certificate.

The commission recommends the birth certificate gender field should be left blank and a classification held on a confidential state register.

The classification would include three options: male, female or non-binary.

A person could apply to the Registrar for a 'proof of sex certificate'.

Other recommendations include:

You would not need to undergo a medical procedure to have your gender identity officially recognised

You could change your gender three times in a lifetime before having to seek the approval of a court

If you are over 12 but under 18, you could seek to formally change your gender. If you don't have the permission of your parents, the Family Court would decide.

The WALRC's chair Dr David Cox said the changes would not make any difference to the vast majority of the population.

"It's not going to affect the fabric of society, it's not doing anything really but it's going to make life a lot easier for a small group of people," Dr Cox said.

He told Perth Now he expected any opposition "will be more ideological".

The WALRC's proposals are similar to South Australian 2016 legislation that introduced the birth certificate options of 'non-binary' and 'indeterminate/intersex/unspecified'.

The WA Law Reform Commission is seeking feedback from the public on these recommended changes. Submissions close on October 19.

Berlin, London, Ottawa, and Perth

Governments around the world are considering reforms to laws governing how the state recognises and records gender.

In New Zealand, the parliament is considering legislation that would allow people to change genders on their birth certificate by way of statutory declaration, instead of needing confirmation by a judge.

This month, the German government approved a draft law allowing a third gender option on birth certificates for babies who are not distinctly male or female.

In May, the Canadian province of Ontario issued its first non-binary birth certificate.

The UK government is consulting on whether it should make changes to legislation to do with how gender is recorded on birth certificates.

In 2016, the Australian Human Rights Commission called for reforms to changing gender on official documents, saying individuals should be handed the power to decide their gender identity for themselves, without prior approval from doctors and psychologists.

In 2014, the High Court ruled that a Sydney resident, Norrie, had the right to be legally recognised as being of non-specific gender.