Transgender rights in Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Transgender rights in Australia have legal protection under federal and state/territory laws, but the requirements for gender recognition vary depending on the jurisdiction.[1] For example, birth certificates, recognised details certificates, and driver licences are regulated by the states and territories, while Medicare and passports are matters for the Commonwealth.[2]
Changing legal gender assignment for federal purposes such as Medicare and passports requires only a letter from a treating medical practitioner.[2] By contrast, most states and territories impose additional requirements for gender recognition that have been criticised by the Australian Human Rights Commission and LGBT advocates.[2] This includes requiring the person to undergo sexual reassignment surgery and, in most jurisdictions until 2018, to divorce if married.[1] Advocates argue that marital status and surgery requirements are irrelevant to the recognition of a person's sex or gender identity, and instead should rely on their self-identification.[2][3] The legalisation of same-sex marriage in 2017 had the effect of removing the requirement to divorce if one was already married. This took effect on 9 December 2018 unless the state or territory government has already removed this requirement beforehand.[4]
Gender reassignment surgery is available in Australia with the costs of some, but not all, treatments for transgender people covered by the national Medicare public health scheme. Between 2004 and 2017 transgender children required approval from the Family Court of Australia before being prescribed hormone treatment, although a series of rulings in 2013 and 2017 removed the need for court approval of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy where there is no dispute between a child, their parents and their treating doctors.[5]