Family Court Act 1997

Family Court (Sex or Gender Changes) Rules 2025

 

 

Family Court (Sex or Gender Changes) Rules 2025

Contents

1.Citation1

2.Commencement1

3.Terms used1

4.Application of rules2

5.Sex or gender application2

6.Application under Children and Community Services Act 2004 s. 63(3A)3

7.Ancillary application3

8.Fixing of directions hearing date4

9.Response to application4

10.Non‑contentious sex or gender application5

11.Service of application or response5

Defined terms

 

Family Court Act 1997

Family Court (Sex or Gender Changes) Rules 2025

Made by the judges of the Family Court of Western Australia.

1.Citation

These rules are the Family Court (Sex or Gender Changes) Rules 2025.

2.Commencement

These rules come into operation on —

(a)the day after the day on which these rules are published on the WA legislation website; or

(b)if later, the day on which the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Amendment (Sex or Gender Changes) Act 2024 section 40 comes into operation.

3.Terms used

In these rules —

affidavit has the meaning given in the Family Court Rules 2021 rule 4;

ancillary application means an application for an order in relation to a sex or gender application;

approved form means a form approved by the Chief Judge;

child, in relation to a sex or gender application, means the child in respect of whom the application is made;

sex or gender application means an application under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 section 36L(1), 36M(2), 36N(1), 36V(1), 36W(2) or 36X(1).

4.Application of rules

These rules apply for the purposes of the exercise by the Court of its jurisdiction under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 Part 5A.

5.Sex or gender application

(1)A sex or gender application must be made in an approved form.

(2)The application must be lodged in the Court together with the following —

(a)an affidavit by each applicant stating the following —

(i)all of the facts relied on in support of the application;

(ii)if the application is made under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 section 36L(1), 36N(1), 36V(1) or 36X(1) — the applicant’s views about the child’s sex or gender and any other view of the applicant relevant to the application;

(iii)if the application is made under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 section 36M(2) or 36W(2) — the applicant’s views about their sex or gender and any other view of the applicant relevant to the application;

(iv)if the application is made by a guardian in accordance with the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 section 36L(3), 36N(3), 36V(3) or 36X(3) — why the parents of the child cannot exercise their parental responsibilities for the child;

(b)evidence of any appropriate clinical treatment that the child has received in relation to the child’s sex or gender;

(c)a certified copy of the child’s birth certificate.

Note for this rule:

Under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 sections 36L(2), 36M(3), 36N(2), 36V(2), 36W(3) and 36X(2), a sex or gender application must specify a sex or gender of a kind prescribed in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Regulations 1999.

6.Application under Children and Community Services Act 2004 s. 63(3A)

(1)In this rule —

accompanying sex or gender application means an application made under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1998 section 36L(1) or 36N(1) at the same time as a name application;

name application means an application made under the Children and Community Services Act 2004 section 63(3A) for permission to make a change of name application (as defined in section 63(2) of that Act).

(2)A name application must be lodged in the Court in an approved form.

(3)The affidavit lodged with an accompanying sex or gender application must state the applicant’s views about the change of name.

(4)Any rule made under the Act that applies to an accompanying sex or gender application applies, with any necessary modifications, to a name application.

7.Ancillary application

(1)An ancillary application in relation to a sex or gender application must be made in an approved form.

(2)The ancillary application must be lodged in the Court and be accompanied by affidavit evidence of the facts relied on in support of the order sought in the ancillary application.

(3)The affidavit evidence referred to in subrule (2) must be separate from the affidavit evidence in support of the sex or gender application.

8.Fixing of directions hearing date

(1)On the filing of a sex or gender application, the Court must fix a date for a directions hearing in relation to the application.

(2)The date fixed must be as soon as practicable after the end of the period of 42 days beginning on the day on which the application is lodged, unless —

(a)a person entitled to be heard in relation to the application has requested an earlier date in writing; and

(b)the Court considers an earlier date is necessary.

(3)The person entitled to be heard must send the request to the Duty Registrar and include in the request reasons why an earlier date is necessary.

9.Response to application

(1)The following persons may lodge a response to a sex or gender application —

(a)each parent or guardian of the child;

(b)any other person concerned with the care, welfare or development of the child.

(2)Subrule (1) does not apply to the person who made, or a person who supports, the application.

(3)The response must be lodged in the Court in an approved form together with an affidavit stating the following —

(a)if the respondent is lodging the response under subrule (1)(b) — reasons why the person is concerned with the care, welfare or development of the child;

(b)the respondent’s views about the application;

(c)all of the facts relied on in support of the response.

10.Non‑contentious sex or gender application

(1)If, at or after a directions hearing in relation to a sex or gender application, each person entitled to be heard in relation to the application supports the application, the application may be determined in Chambers.

(2)If the Court determines a sex or gender application in Chambers, the Court must record the following in writing —

(a)the determination made;

(b)the reasons for making the determination.

11.Service of application or response

A sealed copy of a sex or gender application, an ancillary application or a response to a sex or gender application, and any affidavit in support of the application or response, must be served on the persons and in the manner that the Court directs.

 

 

 

 

Date: 12 May 2025

The Hon Justice Gail Sutherland
Chief Judge
Family Court of Western Australia

 

Defined terms

 

[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]

Defined termProvision(s)

accompanying sex or gender application6(1)

affidavit3

ancillary application3

approved form3

child3

name application6(1)

sex or gender application3

 

 

© State of Western Australia 2025.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). To view relevant information and for a link to a copy of the licence, visit www.legislation.wa.gov.au.

Attribute work as: © State of Western Australia 2025.

By Authority: GEOFF O. LAWN, Government Printer