OII Australia welcomes news of intersex birth registration changes in the New South Wales Births Registry (BDM).
OII has been made aware of these changes by Ms Lisa Karam, an Assistant Registrar with BDM.
The NSW Registry is now prepared to make amendments to a birth certificate because of a mistaken assignment at the time of birth. Below is the part of the legislation that allows this and a case study supplied by Ms Karam.
Intersex individuals in NSW who wish to discuss this or make application to have their birth certificates amended should contact either Lisa Karam <Lisa_Karam@agd.nsw.gov.au> or Sharon Swinbourne <Sharon_Swinbourne@agd.nsw.gov.au>.
Ms Karam has informed me that each case will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Some relevant considerations are medical diagnosis, lived experience, gender preference and presentation. There are no hard lines on the kinds of documentation or experiences needed to have a change made, rather a compassionate consideration of all the details will inform decisions. OII Australia thanks both Sharon Swinbourne and Lisa Karam for their sensible and compassionate actions in this matter.
OII Australia will continue to work with the NSW Attorney General and BDM in the implementation of long-term policies and strategies for intersex individuals.
Births Deaths and Marriages (BDM) has provided the following information.
Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 No 62
Current version for 16 September 2009 to date (accessed 9 November 2009 at 13:45) Part Division 3
Division 3 Correction of Register 45 Correction of Register
(1) The Registrar may correct the Register:
(a) to reflect a finding made on inquiry under Division 2, or
(b) to bring an entry about a particular registrable event into conformity with the most reliable information available to the Registrar of the registrable event.
(2) The Registrar must, if required by a court, correct the Register.
(3) The Registrar corrects the Register by adding or cancelling an entry in the Register or by adding, altering or deleting particulars contained in an entry.
CASE STUDY:
Customer was born intersex in the late 1960s in New South Wales. Customer was registered with BDM as female but over the next forty years this was to prove to be incorrect. Customer supplied medical documentation outlining to the Registrar various diagnosis and procedures he had endured over a long period of time. Registrar amended the birth record of this person to show the correct gender. Registrar also added the person’s details to a child he had fathered regardless of the original birth registration as female.
It is currently not possible to have genders/sex other than male or female registered on NSW birth certificates. OII Australia is working with all birth registries for change in that position.
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