Page 691 - Week 02 - Thursday, 20 March 2014
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Another key change that is being made in association with today’s bill—as Mr Corbell has said, it will be achieved through an administrative reform—is the recognition of a new category to be recorded on birth certificates. This will allow individuals who are intersex, or who identify as having an indeterminate or unspecified sex, recognition on their official documentation. As the LRAC report says, it moves our administrative and legal system “beyond the binary” in recognition that this is not adequate for the diversity that exists in our society.
This is a very meaningful change for many people in the community and an important step in the proper recognition of diverse gender identities. Imagine if you were unable to have formal recognition on your official documents of your gender identity. It must be a deep and alienating hurt.
I understand there have been some concerns raised about the X category and whether this should only be allowed for adults. Again, this was raised with me at the last minute by an advocate. While acknowledging that this is a complicated and sensitive issue, I would point out that, according to the information I have been provided, there is nothing in the proposed changes that will require the use of the X category for children. Rather, the decisions will be left with the parents, who one imagines will make decisions in the best interests of the child.
My view is that this flexibility will be very valuable for the parents and child. Parents otherwise may have to grapple with the difficulties of registering their child in a gender category that does not match their identity. I understand that there are concerns that registering a child in a third gender category could cause stigmatisation. I am aware, though, that on the other side of the coin there can be trauma caused by registration as a gender that the person does not identify with. On balance, as I said, I believe that the proposed approach of allowing flexibility for the X category is a good approach. This should, of course, be accompanied by ongoing efforts in community education. I think that community awareness has improved rapidly in recent years, and I hope it continues on this path.
To conclude, let me say that I welcome the reforms. I congratulate the government, the LGBTIQ Advisory Council and all the advocacy groups involved for their efforts. I hope that this legislation leads to further positive progress on the recognition of gender diverse issues around Australia, and indeed here in the ACT.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra) (6.03): I would like to welcome all the many people from across Canberra who are here today to support this bill. I would also like to acknowledge the issues addressed in this bill that have long required reform. And there is a need to continue the conversation about improving policies which affect sex and gender diverse people.
We are here today to celebrate the passing of this important reform. I would like to take the time to celebrate the contribution of the people whose experiences have informed this bill—and, more broadly, all of the people who contributed to the human rights and equal opportunity commission’s Sex files report, which sets out a clear agenda for ongoing reform in this area. This reform addresses a difficulty many people in our community would never consider, because for many of us it would be
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