As parliament rose at the end of this week the WA government’s long promised legislation to remove the WA Gender Recognition Board is on the precipice of become a reality.
For all intents and purposes, it’s a done deal. The third reading of the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024 passed the Legislative Council on Wednesday night. It has to return to the Legislative Council to be confirmed due to amendments.
Some LGBTIQA+ community groups were disappointed that the government enacted the standing order which allows them to quicken the process of passing a bill, limiting the time for discussion.
Some people were holding out hope that some of the amendments being put forward by The Greens might have been adopted. But the move frustrated non-government MPs and also drew criticism from LGBTIQA+ rights groups and the Australian Christian Lobby at the same time.
A state government spokesperson defended the approach the government deployed.
“Government allowed several days of debate for the Legislative Council to consider the Births, Deaths and Marriages Bill. The Bill was only declared urgent after 12 hours of debate and all up there was 16 hours dedicated to scrutinising the Bill. This places the Bill in the top five longest debated bills in this term of Parliament.
As the shorted debate got underway Liberal MPs bemoaned that many of their concerns about the bill would not be addressed, arguing that if the legislation had been sent for review by a parliamentary committee there would have been more opportunities to explore potential side effects and unintended outcomes.
The government’s spokesperson told OUTinPerth that the Legislative Council had considered this option.
“Sending a bill to committee is not a required stage of the legislative process. Nevertheless, a debate was had on whether to send the Bill to committee and the Legislative Council voted that motion down.
But as Labor has a clear majority in the upper-house, the numbers mean no bill can be sent to committee unless the government want it to.
The spokesperson said the way the government had approach the progression of the bill was justified.
“Government has a significant legislative agenda that it would like to pass before the end of the term. When we consulted the Liberal Party on how much time they required to finish the bill, they advised Government that ‘it doesn’t matter how many hours you allocate, it won’t be enough.’” they said.
OUTinPerth asked what the timeframe would be on removing the current regime of the WA Gender Reassignment Board and installing the new process approved in the legislation.
“The Cook Labor Government is committed to equality and inclusivity for all Western Australians, including those that identify as part of the LGBTIQA+ community.” the spokesperson said.
“Passage of the Births, Deaths, Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Bill 2024 (Bill) will deliver on the Government’s commitment to abolish the Gender Reassignment Board and introduce a new, streamlined administrative process for an individual to legally change their sex or gender.
“It is expected that the new Act and all necessary subsidiary legislation and administrative arrangements will commence in approximately six months.
“This will allow time for the implementation of the reforms and for outstanding applications to the Gender Reassignment Board to be finalised.” they said.
