This is where you find out just what fun it can be being transsexual in Australia. In the absence of specific legislation that you can wave in a bureaucrats face, it’s incredibly hard to get anyone to do anything to help.

A good example here is the ACT department of Urban Services, which is responsible for the ACT Motor Vehicle Registry. When I found out conclusively that they would not change the gender displayed on my licence, which took me actually trying to do it - they ignored my request for information, I started a campaign against them. This involved the following steps:

Firstly, I wrote a letter of complaint to the Registrar of motor vehicles. I sent copies of this letter to the ACT Human Rights Commissioner and minister for Urban Services, and informed the Human Rights Commissioner that I wanted to lodge a complaint against the motor vehicle registry.

The Human Rights Commissioner was fairly quick to respond, and told me that rather than treating the matter as a complaint, wouldn’t it be better to just let them push Urban Services for a policy change. I agreed to this, thinking naively that this was the best recourse.

Urban services didn’t answer my letters until I rang them up and asked what they were doing. The person that I spoke to - a low grade clerk, assured me that the matter was well in hand, and that they would have policy ready in ‘a couple of weeks’

A couple of weeks later, I received a letter stating that they were ‘looking into’ the matter, and would inform me of any developments shortly. This is the only letter that the department of Urban Services has ever sent me regarding this case. Basically, I think that they figured the best way to fob me off was to give the impression they were doing something, when in fact they had no intentions of the sort.

I kept harassing the Urban services staff by phone every few weeks, until one of them told me that they had generated policy, but that it hadn’t gone any further than the registrar. It appeared that he had the final say. At this, I contacted him directly, and argued my case unsuccessfully on the phone.

Next, I informed the Human Rights Office that I wanted to pursue the matter as a specific complaint, and wrote letters to the Attorney General, and the minister for Urban Services, asking for their help.

After a further four weeks or so of complete inaction, I tried to renew my licence, and found that inappropriate information, regarding my gender identity, had been recorded on my file. This angered me sufficiently to seek legal advice.

I next engaged the services of a solicitor, who I found by ringing the ACT Aids Action Council, to take the matter to court, and contacted an opposition MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly, the ACT governing body) to ask for his help.

These two actions seem to have done the trick. Within a few days, the Human Rights Office contacted me, and told me that they had now presented my complaint to Urban Services, the note spontaneously disappeared from my file (but not before I demanded a copy for use in court), and the registrar contacted my solicitor, promising that he would have the policy amended to remove the sex field within a fortnight. As of October 1, 1996, ACT drivers licences no longer display sex.

There are a few lessons to be learnt from this. Firstly, bureaucrats will resist change, at almost any cost. The only way to ensure that your case is dealt with at all, is to exert as much pressure as you can. The best form of pressure seems to be threat of publicity. The bureaucrats do not like the prospect of being hauled before the courts, or having their minister questioned in parliament, as it makes them look extremely bad.

When looking for people to help, I’ve found that other government agencies, such as in this case the Human Rights Office, although sounding really good, actually have no interest in getting your case sorted out. Bear in mind that these people are probably on the same payroll as the people you are complaining about, therefore they have different objectives to yours. The best people to help are independent, such as solicitors and opposition party politicians. These people have the motivation and the power to really get things done.

If you’re looking for a solicitor, get in touch with anything in your area that resembles a queer lobby group. Queer friendly solicitors will often do amazing things for no money at all, simply because it’s advancing the cause.

Freedom of Information is an extremely powerful tool. Rather than simply writing or phoning a department or agency, and hoping that they will keep you informed of their progress, which they won’t, a Freedom of Information request guarantees (by law) all the information you are requesting within 30 days. It costs money, of course, but the law keeps that down to a reasonable amount ($15 in the ACT).

Finally, and this is the most important thing I can say, don’t give up. There’s always a way to accomplish the changes we need. Sure, it may take years of political pressure and lobbying, and maybe even fights in the courts, but we will win in the end.