SARAA has provided advice on the review of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Regulations 2011, in partnership with Equality Australia and InterAction for Health and Human Rights.
While South Australia historically was a leader, removing surgical requirements for changing gender markers in 2016, our laws must continue to evolve. Our submission details five key areas where SA’s regulations must modernize to protect our communities, respect our identities, and reduce administrative barriers:
- Rainbow Families: Removing the term “biological parent” for donors and allowing trans and non-binary birthing parents to select accurate descriptors instead of defaulting to “mother.”
- Intersex Autonomy: Removing the harmful “indeterminate/intersex/unspecified” birth sex classification to protect bodily autonomy and follow international best practices.
- Gender Descriptors: Allowing individuals to self-nominate their preferred gender identity marker, including culturally significant terms like brotherboy and sistergirl.
- Removing Gatekeeping: Dropping the mandatory, costly three-session clinical counselling requirement to change a gender marker.
- Privacy & Safety: Requiring explicit consent before releasing historical registry records to counter potential domestic violence and coercive control.