Bill deferred for consultation

WELLINGTON: The Government is deferring a Bill to allow public consultation on a clause which would allow people to change the sex on their birth certificate through an administrative process.

Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced yesterday the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill would be deferred to deal with problems caused by the select committee process.

The Bill started as a way to update old laws and develop digital and online ways of accessing births, deaths and marriages information, a statement from Ms Martin said.

‘‘However, significant changes were made to the Bill by the select committee around gender selfidentification and this occurred without adequate pub lic consultation. This has created a fundamental legal issue.’’

Ms Martin said she supported the suggested change and wanted to make it easier for people to formally acknowledge their identified gender.

The select committee changes introduced clauses allowing individuals to change the gender on their birth certificate via an administrative process based on selfidentification. This is a substantial change from the current Family Court process that requires evidence of medical treatment.

Ms Martin said there had been inadequate public consultation given how significant the proposed changes were.

She said the Crown Law Office had advised there were legal issues which need to be clarified. — RNZ