More than 1,000 birth certificate changes cited
Family First has renewed its campaign against NSW gender self-identification laws after figures showed more than 1,000 males legally changed their sex to female on NSW birth certificates. The Saturday Telegraph published the figures after the Minns Government implemented Alex Greenwich’s Equality legislation last year.
The legal process needs a statutory declaration, a supporting statement and a $73 fee. Lyle Shelton, Family First National Director and the party’s lead candidate for the NSW Legislative Council, used the figures to restate his call for repeal.
Shelton argued the total works out at about three males a day changing their legal sex to female. He also pointed to 80 children who had applied to change the sex recorded on their birth certificates.
Corrective Services NSW prison guidance
Shelton said the issue now affects women’s sport, prisons, changerooms, refuges and other sex-based spaces. He cited Corrective Services NSW guidance that prison authorities should assess prisoners by biological reality when making accommodation decisions, rather than rely on birth certificates alone.
“If birth certificates can no longer be trusted inside our prisons, why should they determine access to women’s sport, changing rooms or other female-only spaces?” Shelton said.
He linked the dispute to the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite campaign. According to Shelton, Alex Greenwich told voters at the time that redefining marriage had nothing to do with gender ideology or changing the legal meaning of sex.
“In debates with me during the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite, Alex Greenwich repeatedly assured Australians that redefining marriage had nothing to do with gender ideology or changing the legal meaning of sex,” Shelton said.
Shelton claimed those earlier warnings were dismissed as scare campaigns. He now argues the Greenwich-backed law changed legal sex status through paperwork and a fee, and that governments are struggling to manage the effects across female-only settings.
Family First has long opposed gender self-identification laws in NSW. Shelton said the party believes the laws weaken the rights, privacy and safety of women and children and create legal confusion.
The party’s latest push is also tied to the next NSW Legislative Council election in March. Shelton said that, if elected, he would focus on overturning the legislation introduced under the Minns Government and driven by Alex Greenwich.
“If I am elected to the NSW Legislative Council next March, I will make it my life’s work to undo the harmful legislation Alex Greenwich has been instrumental in imposing on New South Wales,” he said.
