Our gender reforms get the all-clear

Review shows gender law changes were warranted, explains Brendan Gogarty

LATE last year Tasmania led Australia in reforms to enable citizens to obtain a birth certificate that reflected their gender. The reforms were, in some quarters, controversial, not least because by leading the way Tasmania was moving into uncharted legal territory — what would the implications of allowing people to alter their gender, or choose not to list it at all? Not much, it turns out — at least from a legal standpoint — as confirmed by the state’s peak law reform body, the Tasmania Law Reform Institute.

The Marriage and Gender Amendments Act came into effect in September. The vast majority of Tasmanians were largely unaffected by the changes to our birth certificate laws that resulted. Ultimately, very few Tasmanians have opted to not register the gender of their child (less than 1 per cent so far), and even fewer Tasmanians have opted to alter their registered gender (close to .001 per cent of the state so far).

The reality is that very few of us think about our birth certificate, let alone what’s on it. However, for a small proportion of our community, the gender recorded on their birth certificate was, historically, confronting and distressing. For those people, the certificate conflated the sex they were assigned at birth with their gender — that is the way the identify or express themselves and the way others in the community see them — things we are now understanding are different.

The Tasmanian Parliament accepted laws and practices that conflated these things served to exacerbate feelings of isolation, anxiety and depression faced by people already over-represented in terms of poor mental health and suicide. Most importantly, the 2019 reforms reflect a willingness to alter our laws to be more inclusive and accepting of all Tasmanian citizens, regardless of their identity. Of course, changing the law can and often does have unanticipated consequences. That is especially the case when the changes are new. One of the risks of being a leader is that we must beat our own path and be more keenly aware of that pitfalls that may arise.

In recognition of this, the Tasmanian Attorney-General, having political responsibility for the state’s system of law and justice, directed the Tasmania Law Reform Institute to report on any unforeseen legal consequences of the reforms, and provide a forum for Tasmanians to raise their concerns, views and experiences. The Institute did wide-ranging research, public and stakeholder consultation, and reviewed evidence about implementation of the laws.

Ultimately, the Institute was satisfied that allowing people to change their officially recorded gender would not have any unforeseen legal consequences. A number of concerns raised during debate were addressed by the laws, and Tasmanian public and legal agencies have responded effectively to those issues.

Most notably, this has been done by implementing clear administrative practices and providing for effective scrutiny of gender change applications.

Conversely, the institute heard and accepted evidence that, for a small proportion of our society, these reforms will have a profound impact on the rights, health, wellbeing and sense of self of gender diverse people. In the balance, Tasmania’s sex and gender law reforms were clearly warranted and something we can all be proud of.

The report and explainer videos, animated by Jon Kudelka and voiced by Oliver Cassidy, are at utas.edu.au/gender-reforms