- Home
- Anti-Discrimination Commission
- Births, Deaths and Marriages
- Consumer Affairs
- Courts Support Services
- Fines Recovery Unit
- Land Titles Office
- Office of the Commissioner for Public Interest Disclosures
- Office of the Information Commissioner
- Policy Coordination
- Public Prosecutions
- Public Trustee
- Solicitor for the NT
- For Community Groups
- For Consumers
- For Business
- For Youth
- For Legal Practitioners
- Media Room
- Research and Statistics
- Services for the Public
- Victims of Crime
- Witnesses
- Department of Correctional Services
Sexual Reassignment
Related Pages: Identification Requirements Policy | Fees Schedule | Change of Name Form
From 1 June 1997 a person born in the Northern Territory and who has undergone sexual reassignment surgery can apply to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to record the new gender on the birth certificate. A person born in the Northern Territory who is 18 years or older may apply to the Registrar to have the record of sex altered on the birth certificate if he or she has undergone sexual reassignment surgery.
Sexual Reassignment Surgery
Sexual Reassignment surgery means a surgical procedure involving the alteration of a person’s reproductive organs for the purpose of assisting a person to be considered to be a member of the opposite sex, or to correct or eliminate ambiguities relating to the sex of the person.
Recognition Certificate
An approved form is to be lodged together with documentary evidence. This evidence consists of:
- A Recognition Certificate as defined by section 28A of the Births, Deaths and Marriage Registration Act; or
- Statutory declarations from two medical practitioners as prescribed; and
- Other documents and information, if any, as the Registrar requires.
Identification required
Upon application to register a change of sex, sufficient identification must be produced such as a passport or driver’s licence in accordance with the Registrar’s Identification Requirements policy (see in Related Pages).
Old birth certificates
Any existing birth certificates should be submitted to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Office for notation that the certificate has been superseded. The certificate(s) will be returned to the applicant. It is an offence for a person, with the intention to deceive, to produce a birth certificate that shows the person’s sex before his or her change of sex.
(Penalty: AU$10,000 or imprisonment for 2 years).
New birth certificates
When the change of sex is registered, a birth certificate issued from the Register will, unless requested by the person, show the changed sex. The birth certificate will not include a statement that the person has changed sex. Any changes of name recorded prior to an application for notation of change of sex, which indicate that the person may have changed sex, will not as a general rule be printed on the reverse of the birth certificate unless an applicant specifically requests otherwise. A name change recorded at the time of the sex change notation, which infers that a sex change has taken place, will not be printed on the birth certificate unless this is requested by the applicant.
Change of name
For persons wishing to change their name as a result of the change of sex, a Change of Name form will need to be completed and fees paid. There will be no requirement to advertise the change in a newspaper.
See the Fees Schedule (in Related Pages) for the relevant fees regarding:
- Change of Sex
- Change of Name
- New Birth Certificate
Previous change of name
If a person has previously changed his or her name, whether within or outside of the Northern Territory, and wishes to have the name change noted on the birth certificate, the original change of name certificate of Deed Poll etc. will need to be forwarded to the Office for sighting. There are no fees for noting a change of name on the birth certificate.
Access to old birth certificate
Access to the old birth certificate is restricted by legislation. Persons who may apply are the person themselves, executor or administrator of the person’s estate, a child, spouse or former spouse of the person, police officer of other person entitled by Law.
For further information, email RegistrarGeneral.DOJ@nt.gov.au
