I never thought I'd be able to say it, but here, for once, is something that the Kiwis are way ahead of us on, unlike cricket, rugby, or building boats.

In New Zealand, it is possible for a transsexual to change the sex on all her (or his) identifying documents, such as passport, birth certificate, drivers licence, etc. You can even marry someone of the opposite (to your reassigned) sex, legally. Simply put, a transsexual in New Zealand is regarded as female (or male), as far as the law is concerned.

The only 'fuzzy bit' here is the family courts' interpretation of "medical intervention". Do they mean SRS? HRT? Just counseling? In any case, this is a necessary precondition to the amendment of birth certificates, and the interpretation has a hell of a lot of bearing on just whom this act applies to.

A similar setup exists in South Australia, and the New South Wales government are currently tabling similar legislation. Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, that's about it, on a state by state basis.

Now on a federal basis, really the only two things that apply in Australia are the rules governing issue of passports, as this is done by the department of foreign affairs, and privacy laws, which simply say that a government department or agency aren’t allowed to collect or hold unnecessary information. There is the possibility of really good news on the horizon, though. In 1995, Senator Sid Spindler introduced the Sexuality Discrimination Bill into the senate. This covers a broad range of discrimination against members of sexual minorities, and people with a transgender identity. However, nowhere in the bill does it say that a transgendered person is to be recognised as being a member of the gender in which they live, just that all agencies are required to recognise ‘recognition certificates’ issued by the states.

On the passport side, there is some good news. A pre op or post op tranny may change the sex on her (or his) passport, as long as they provide the following documentation:

For a post op:

Change of name deed, and a letter from your surgeon stating that your sex has successfully been reassigned, will grant you a fully valid passport with your new name and sex, and no reference to old details.

For a pre op:

Not as good, but a limited validity passport will be issued (good for one year), if you provide a change of name deed and a letter from your doctor stating that you intend to go overseas for SRS. Here you still get a 'limited validity' passport, with your new name and sex, but only valid for a year.

If you exercise either option, you'll also be provided with a nasty little letter stating that the department of foreign affairs doesn't like you, or approve of what you're doing, or condone anything, and that they are only providing the passport to minimise embarrassment at overseas customs points. (My interpretation) In reality it just says that by issuing the passport, the Federal government aren't recognising your re-assigned sex, and you can't use the document as proof of gender for marriage purposes, etc.

Anyway, the full details are contained in the Department of Foreign Affairs Manual of Australian Passport Issue (MAPI).