## Facts

- Norrie was born with male reproductive organs and later underwent a sex affirmation procedure (including castration and surgical construction of a semi-functioning vagina).
- After the procedure, Norrie identified and was perceived as of “non-specific” sex, meaning neither male nor female.
- In 2009, Norrie applied under the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 (NSW)* to register a change of sex and requested the entry “non-specific.”
- Norrie provided statutory declarations from two medical practitioners attesting that Norrie had undergone a sex affirmation procedure; the litigation proceeded on the assumption that the statutory preconditions for an application were satisfied.
- The Registrar initially approved the application but later declared the approval invalid, reasoning that the Act allowed only “male” or “female” sex classifications.
- The Administrative Decisions Tribunal rejected Norrie’s position, finding the statutory scheme assumed all persons could be classified as male or female.
- The New South Wales Court of Appeal held the Act permitted recognition of categories other than male or female and remitted the matter for factual determination.
- The Registrar appealed to the High Court of Australia.

## Issues

1. Whether the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995 (NSW)* limits the Registrar’s power to register a change of sex to “male” or “female,” or permits registration as “non-specific.”

## Decision

- The High Court unanimously held that the Act does not confine sex classification to male or female and allows the Registrar to record a person’s sex as “non-specific.”
- The Court stated that not all human beings can be classified as either male or female and that the Act expressly recognizes the possibility of ambiguous sex.
- The Court set aside part of the Court of Appeal’s orders and remitted Norrie’s 2009 applications to the Registrar for determination in accordance with the High Court’s reasons.
- The appeal was otherwise dismissed, and the Registrar was ordered to pay Norrie’s costs.

## Legal Principles

- Where a statute directs registration of a “change of sex” and does not define “sex,” the term may include sex that is ambiguous or not exclusively male or female, depending on statutory context and purpose.
- Statutory provisions enabling registration after a sex affirmation procedure may support a non-binary entry when the scheme recognizes that sex may be ambiguous.
- The Registrar’s duty to register a change of sex, once statutory preconditions are met, is not necessarily limited to recording movement between two fixed categories if that limitation is not expressed and would defeat the statute’s operation for persons with ambiguous sex.

## Conclusion

The High Court interpreted the NSW registration statute to permit recording a change of sex as “non-specific,” rejecting a binary-only construction and remitting the application to the Registrar to determine the registration consistently with that interpretation.


N.S.W. Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages v. Norrie, 250 C.L.R. 490 (Austl. 2014)