Working Group for reducing barriers to changing registered sex
- View the Working Group's report and the Government response (29 April 2021)
- Frequently Asked Questions on the Working Group (updated 10 May 2021)
On 1 August 2019 The Minister of Internal Affairs announced the appointment of a Working Group for reducing barriers to changing registered sex (see: Beehive website media release). In 2020, the Working Group provided the Minister of Internal Affairs with a report and recommendations on practical improvements to the current process to change sex information on birth certificates. In April 2021, the government released its response to the Working Group’s report.
Further information about the purpose of the Working Group can be found in the Cabinet paper available here: Establishing a Working Group for reducing barriers to changing registered sex (PDF, 679KB)
Working Group members
The Working Group comprised 7 members, including representatives of the transgender and intersex community as well as medical and legal experts with experience in transgender issues. Kate Scarlet, a lawyer with substantial expertise in the process for changing registered sex, chaired the Working Group. Other members were Jack Byrne, Mani Mitchell, Jeannie Oliphant, Fleur Fitzsimons and Ahi Wi-Hongi. In October 2019 Georgina Beyer resigned as a member of the Working Group for personal reasons.
The Working Group's report and the Government response are now available (29 April 2021)
The Working Group delivered their report in early 2020. The Government response to the recommendations is now available and can be found below. Previously, a redacted version of the Working Group’s report was publicly available. See below for the full version of the Working Group’s report and recommendations.
The full version of the Working Group’s report can be found here:
The Government’s Response to the Working Group’s report can be found here:
- Government Response to the Working Group for Reducing Barriers to changing Registered Sex (PDF, 195KB)
The Terms of Reference for the Working Group can be found here:
Proactively Released Briefings relating to the establishment of the Working Group can be found here:
Frequently Asked Questions on the Working Group
What was the Working Group for Reducing Barriers to Changing Registered Sex?
The Working Group was formed by the previous Minister of Internal Affairs Hon Tracey Martin to improve the Family Court process for changing registered sex on a birth certificate. In 2020, the Working Group provided the Minister of Internal Affairs with a report and recommendations on practical improvements to the Family Court process to change sex information on birth certificates.
What was the scope of the Working Group for reducing barriers to changing registered sex?
When the previous Minister of Internal Affairs deferred the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill she announced she would lead work to make practical improvements to the Family Court process for changing sex on birth certificates. The Working Group helped identify and mitigate barriers to the Family Court process.
The Working Group identified practical improvements within the current system and within legislation. Though it did not consider changes to the law, the Working Group was clear that the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Act (1995) should change to best serve the people who wish to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate.
What is in the Working Group’s report?
In January 2020, the Working Group delivered their report, which examined the barriers to people changing the sex on their birth certificate. They made 38 recommendations to help reduce those barriers:
- Twenty-nine recommendations fall under the remit of five government agencies: Internal Affairs, Justice (Courts), Health, Education, and Business, Innovation and Employment (Immigration).
- Seven recommendations are to the Judiciary and
- Three are directly to the Minister of Internal Affairs.
One recommendation is to both the Ministry of Health and the Judiciary, so is counted twice. Other agencies such as Sport New Zealand and Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission will also be involved in the work to respond to the recommendations.
Why are recommendations to the Judiciary not included in the Government response?
The Judiciary has not responded to the Working Group’s report through the Government response. This is because the Judiciary is distinct from the Government and is considering its recommendations separately.
How did the Government respond to the Working Group’s recommendations?
The Government response agrees to consider 23 of the recommendations in principle. These include:
- initiatives to provide information to key groups about the purpose of a birth certificate and when sex/gender information should be updated on administrative systems;
- improved resources and help for individuals who wish to go through the process to change the sex recorded on their birth certificate; and
- improvements aimed to help the process take less time.
The Working Group’s recommendations are well-placed to make it easier for people to change the sex on their birth certificate. In some cases, the solutions recommended by the Working Group presented funding or regulatory challenges. In these cases, agencies have suggested alternative ways of addressing the core issue. Some recommendations cannot be implemented right now for capacity, equity or resourcing reasons.
Why are you progressing the Bill if the Working Group recommendations fix the problem? / Won’t the Bill make the Working Group recommendations redundant?
A self-identification process would eventually make some of the Working Group’s recommendations redundant. Progressing operational improvements will provide valuable support to transgender and intersex people until decisions can be made about introducing a self-identification process. Some of the Working Group’s recommendations also address issues outside of the process for changing sex on a birth certificate.
What work is underway or completed to address the recommendations?
The Government has already made progress on several of the recommendations, including developing new guidance for applicants that is available online and improvements to call centre support to help to step people through the process.
Why are you not progressing some of the recommendations?
Some of the recommendations cannot be implemented due to capacity, equity or resourcing reasons. More detailed responses for individual recommendations can be found in the Government response.
Have the Working Group’s recommendations changed the process to a self-identification system?
No. Removing the Family Court process to allow people to change the sex on their birth certificate through self-identification would require a change in the law. The Minister of Internal Affairs has announced that she intends to progress the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Bill that is awaiting its second reading in the House of Representatives. You can find the announcement here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/mothballed-gender-self-id-law-back-as-a-priority-for-govt-will-pass-this-year-minister-says/CIPLGCHFKCK5OB5MOBNYTQ36RQ/.
How were Working Group members selected?
The Working Group was established to engage people with lived experience of the current process to change registered sex on a birth certificate. Working Group members are representatives of the transgender and intersex community, and people with professional expertise relevant to the current process.
People with other interests are not represented, as the Working Group is only recommending changes to operational processes under current legislation. Only transgender and intersex people, and related professionals or family members are subject to the current process to change registered sex. If, and when, any changes are proposed to legislation, the wider community will have a chance to comment.
The Minister proposed criteria for the selection of Working Group members to Cabinet. You can read the Cabinet paper here: Establishing a Working Group for reducing barriers to changing registered sex (PDF, 679KB)
