Norrie v NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages

The appeal concerned the interpretation of section 32DC of the *Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995* (NSW) and the power of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages to register a change of a person's "sex". The appellant, Norrie, sought to have their sex registered as "non-specific" on their birth certificate, having been assigned female at birth but identifying as neither male nor female. The Registrar had refused this application, and the Administrative Decisions Tribunal had upheld that refusal. The appeal was brought before the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The central legal issue was whether the Registrar's power under section 32DC to register a change of a person's "sex" was confined to changes between male and female, or if it extended to other classifications, such as "non-specific". This required the court to consider the proper approach to statutory interpretation, including the extent to which extrinsic materials, such as second reading speeches, dictionary definitions, academic writings, and other legislation, could be used to ascertain the meaning of the statutory provision. The court also considered whether the question of law raised by the appeal fell within the jurisdiction of the Administrative Decisions Tribunal under section 119(1) of the *Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act 1997* (NSW).

The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, setting aside the decision of the Tribunal. The court reasoned that the term "sex" in section 32DC was not limited to a binary male or female classification. It held that the Registrar had the power to register a change of sex to a designation other than male or female, provided that the applicant had undergone appropriate medical or surgical procedures or had been diagnosed as having a disorder of sex development. The court found that the Tribunal had erred in its interpretation of the Act and in its approach to the evidence.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal set aside the decision of the Tribunal and remitted the matter for redetermination. The respondent, the NSW Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, was ordered to pay the appellant's costs of the appeal.