Law Council of Australia

Resources

Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender

Submission Date: 24 April 2013

The Law Council welcomes the Australian Government’s development of draft Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender (the Guidelines).1 When finalised, the Guidelines will form a practical mechanism by which the Government can help to eliminate discrimination against people who are sex and gender diverse.

The Guidelines have been developed as part of a range of commitments made by the Australian Government in the National Human Rights Action Plan in order to address discrimination against sex and/or gender diverse people. This includes the commitment to develop:

… national guidelines across the Australian Government public sector agencies to ensure sex and gender information is collected consistently across government and only where there is a legitimate purpose, and to build consistency in the way gender may be changed in Commonwealth records.2

The collection and handling of sex and gender information by governments has been identified as an issue of real concern to many people who are sex and gender diverse.3 Where such information is collected or handled in a discriminatory manner, the consequences can exacerbate the vulnerabilities already faced by this population. For example, the Law Council has been concerned by past reports by the New South Wales Gender Centre that transgendered people have decided against claiming their welfare entitlements because they have previously experienced unfair or insensitive treatment by Centrelink.4 This leaves people open to homelessness, poverty and violence. The Guidelines are an important step in helping to address such situations.

1 Issued for comment by the Attorney-General’s Department on 22 March 2013, available at:
http://www.ag.gov.au/Consultations/Pages/AustralianGovernmentGuidelinesontheRecognitionofSexandGender.aspx
2 National Human Rights Action Plan, Item 209, page 50
3 Australian Human Rights Commission, Sex Files: The Legal Recognition of Sex in Documents and government Records report (2009), page 5, available at:
https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/genderdiversity/SFR_2009_Web.pdf
4The Gender Centre, Concerns for Clients When Accessing Government Agencies or Service Providers, available at http://www.gendercentre.org.au/concerns_for_clients_kit.htm

Related Documents

Last Updated on 27/05/2025

Share

Tags

Most recent items


Trending Items