Identity Documents

Changing your name

How to change your name 

If you were born or adopted in Queensland, you can change your name by filling in a form and either mailing it in to the Registry of Birth Deaths and Marriages or making an appointment with the registry to change in person. You can also change your first and middle names while updating your birth certificate without needing to change your name separately. 

 As of July 2025, the cost of this application is $205.90 plus postage, and takes an average of 10 business days. For an extra fee you can apply for an urgent application which will take 3 business days. 

If you are changing your name after marriage, separation or divorce, you do not need to apply for a change of name. You can use your marriage certificate as proof of name change. If you want a hyphenated last name you will need to apply for a name change. 

The Registry requires a valid reason for a name change and will ask you for a  reason in your application. Gender identity, gender transition, being transgender or nonbinary, are all considered valid reasons and no extra detail is needed. 

Changing your name informally

Any person may use any name they wish in their daily life, including names that you are not allowed to use as your legal name. You can change your name and begin using it in everyday life immediately, without legally changing your name. You can simply ask the people in your life to use the name you chose. It is not illegal to use a new name without registering it, unless you use it to commit a crime such as fraud. You can change your name informally as often as you want and use different names with different people 

Unless you must show identity documents, you can use your chosen name with goods and services such as signing up to a club. You can use your chosen name to receive mail and buy most goods online. Some restricted items like sim cards, or expensive items may require you to present ID when receiving mail.  

Many places which require a legal name will also be able to record a chosen or preferred name, and if they don’t already you can ask them to. 

If your name doesn’t match your identity documents, it may cause some problems. You might be outed to your employer, health care providers, and other people in your life. You may have administrative issues or negative experiences with police. 

How many times you can change your name

If you are over 18 you can only change your legal name three times. 

You can only change your legal name once if you are aged between 1 and 18.  

If you need to change your legal name more times you can apply to a magistrate under exceptional circumstances, eg escaping domestic and family violence.  

Prohibited names

There are some names that you cannot use as your legal name because they are difficult for the community to use. This might be because they are offensive, impossible to pronounce, or too long. If you are concerned that your name might be prohibited, you can contact the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages to speak to them about the significance of your name. If your change of name is refused, you can appeal a decision via the Queensland Council of Administration and Tribunal (QCAT). See more details on prohibited names. 

More details on prohibited names

The maximum amount of characters for a name in QLD is 60.

Names must translated into latin characters in the American Standard Code for Information Exchange. Permissible characters include grave (à), acute (é), circumflex (û), tilde (ñ), umlaut (ö) and ring (Å). 

Unpronounceable names are those with symbols or characters that don’t have a sound such as “?” and “!”. Names that might be difficult to pronounce or that are commonly mispronounced are not prohibited. 

Confusing or misleading names refer to those that could confuse you for a person with a particular title or agency.  eg. Your first name cannot be “Judge”, as this could cause people to mistake you for a judge. Having a name that might not match your gender expression is not considered confusing or misleading.

You cannot use the name of a registered trademark. Us IP Australia to search for your name. (Search.ipaustralia.gov.au)

You cannot use your name to intimidate or harass someone, eg a person who changes their name to be the same as a victim of crime

Offensive names include swear words, descriptions of violence or sex acts, slurs and discriminatory terms. This is because they are difficult for the community to say. For example, if you want to reclaim as slur as your name, others in the community might still struggle with using it if they have had negative experiences with the slur or would feel uncomfortable saying themselves as it doesn’t refer to them.

Born outside of Queensland

If you were born in Australia but outside QLD you must apply to your birth state to change your name. The rules for name change are similar across states, though some states restrict certain people from being able to change their names. 

If you were born outside of Australia and have lived in QLD for 12 months, you can apply to have your name changed through the QLD Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.

Criminalised people

Some people may need permission from the police or corrective services to change their legal name. If you are a reportable offender, you must obtain permission from the police commissioner to change your name. You may be asked to prove grounds for changing your name such as good behaviour. If you are in prison, you must get written approval of the Chief Executive of Correct Services before applying to change your name.  

Changing you birth certificate

Your birth certificate is the official legal record that you exist. It is important because it is used to prove your identity and grant you access to rights as an Australian citizen. 

You (and your children) will need a birth certificate to: 

  • enroll in education and work in Australia 
  • receive Medicare and government benefits
  • get a driver’s license and passport 
  • prove your identity in applying for other identity documentation, 
  • in some circumstances, it may be required to be provided in court proceedings

It may be important to you that your official documents reflect your true self. Having an accurate birth certificate can protect your privacy. Once you have updated your birth certificate it may be easier to have your gender accurately recorded in all areas of your life. The gender on your birth certificate will becomes your legal gender.

You do not need to change your birth certificate to be protected under antidiscrimination laws, or to participate in public life as your gender. 

Birth certificates list “sex”, but in practice you should record your gender and not your sex. 

Born in Queensland

Updating your gender marker

You can get a birth certificate that reflects your gender identity, or one that does not list a gender on it at all.

You are allowed to self-identify your own gender as you want it to appear on your birth certificate. You have the option of recording your gender as male, female, or writing in your owns words to describe your gender. This is referred to as a “sex descriptor”, for more information see Gender Descriptions below.

You do not need to undergo any medical procedures to affirm your gender and you do not need to have written support from a medical professional if you are over 16.

Under 16s

If you, or your child, are under 16, you need parental permission to change the gender on your birth certificate. This applies to all parents with parental responsibility. This includes all parents who on the birth certificate. Other people with parental responsibility include those with a parenting order, child protection order, court ordered guardians, or guardians under a will.

If all parents agree do not agree, you can apply for permission through the children’s court. Children aged 12-16 can apply on behalf on themselves if none of their parents support the application.

You will also need a report from a developmentally informed practitioner. This must be a professional who has an ongoing relationship with your child and not someone seeing them for the first time. The purpose is to make sure that the child or young person understands what it means to change their birth certificate, not to restrict changes to those who have taken a medical transition.

A developmentally informed practitioner can be a doctor or allied health worker, a social worker, a psychologist or counsellor, or a school guidance counsellor who has appropriate qualifications. Most of these practitioners must be a member of their professional associations or registers, so you may need to ask them for those details to confirm that they are qualified as a developmentally informed practitioner.

The report must contain information about the practitioner’s relationship with the child, such as how long they have been seeing them and how much they have discussed gender identity. It also must include conformation that the child understands how this process with affect them.

Supporting Documentation

To support your application you need:

  • Proof of identity
  • A statutory declaration
  • A statement of support
  • A filled in form

Your supporting documentation must be certified by a qualified witness, such as a Justice of the Peace (JP) or a lawyer. Many JPs provide their services for free at shopping centers and libraries. It may feel vulnerable for you to share this sensitive information with a stranger. JPs undergo extensive training and follow a strict code of conduct. This includes not disclosing any information that they come across while performing their duties. You can find a JP in your area using this tool Search for your nearest JP or Cdec | Your rights, crime and the law | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au). Lawyers are also bound by codes of conduct and confidentiality laws.

You will need a supporting statement from an adult who has known you for at least 12 months. This can be anyone in your life. In their statement they must say how they know you and confirm that you identify as the sex descriptor you used in your application. This part of the form does not need to be signed or witnessed by a qualified witness. 

As part of your application, you will need to sign a statutory declaration (stat dec). A stat dec is a formal statement that something is true. It legally binding document and there can be serious consequences for lying on a stat dec. It is not considered to be lying if the things in your stat dec are no longer true after writing them such as if your experience of gender changes over time, as long as they were true at the time of writing.

To prove your identity, you need to provide certified copies three separate forms of ID. These include person ID such as your driver license or passport and community ID such as student card or medicare card. One form of ID must contain your current address such as a rental lease or electricity bill. For the full list of acceptable ID see

To certify the documents, make a photocopy. Do not send the originals as they may not be able to be returned to you. For your license you should photocopy both the front and back, but all over identification needs only the front copied, or only the relevant page attached. Take both the original and the copies to a Justice of the Peace or other witness, who will check that your copies are a true copy of the original and sign them. If you are applying in person, you can bring the originals and the customer service officers will sight them.

You can find the full list of approved ID documents here. Requirements for changing record of sex | Your rights, crime and the law | Queensland Government (www.qld.gov.au)

Certificate Types and Costs (as of July 2025)

There are three available certificates, and you may purchase none or all of them. If you choose not to purchase a certificate alongside your change of sex, you will not be able to amend identification or otherwise prove your gender. Each birth certificate option costs $54.40.

  • linking birth certificate – this shows your new details on the front and your previous details on the back. This certificate will be helpful when updating your other identity documentation as it links your previous details to your new details.
  • official birth certificate – with sex. This certificate will show your gender as you have described it
  • official birth certificate – without sex. This certificate will not contain any information about your gender. You can use this certificate to prove your identity without sharing your gender. A certificate that does not show the sex may not be suitable everywhere in the community as an identity document. Even if you chose to have a birth certificate without sex listed, you must register a sex descriptor with the RBDM

It is recommended that you purchase both a linking birth certificate to update your identity and an official birth certificate to use going forward.

Applying for a change of sex has a cost of $126.10. This is in addition to any certificates you purchase. This cannot be refunded even if the application is rejected, but your postage and certificate fees can be refunded. 

There is also a postage fee, for any certificates that are mailed to you. This must be paid for at the time of applying. It is suggested that you use registered post when mailing important documents such as birth certificates.

The total cost for the application, two birth certificates and registered mail comes to $243

You may be eligible to have the fee waived if you are both in financial need and can demonstrate that you require the birth certificate urgently, in the next 28 days. Urgent requirements include starting new employment, applying for Centrelink payments, or enrolling in a new education institution.

Gender descriptions

You are allowed to write in your gender using the words that best describe you. These words will appear on your linking birth certificate which you will be required to show when updating your gender.

There are some restrictions on how you describe your gender.

Prohibited descriptions include:

  • sexual orientation eg. bisexual, asexual
  • Gender descriptions that include an object, character or concept eg. stargender
  • Impractical such as too long or certain containing characters or symbols eg.@
  • Obscene, offensive or absurd eg. a slur or swear word

The RBDM is not able to provide individual advice on whether a sex descriptor is prohibited before applying.

If you submit a gender descriptor that RBDM has not seen before, which appears to be prohibited, they will contact you to discuss this with you. They might ask about the meaning of your gender description or for online resources available about your gender. If your gender descriptor is prohibited, they will work with you to find a meaningful gender descriptor that is not prohibited. You will have 14 days to amend your application with your new gender descriptor.

If your gender description is not approved, you may apply to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to review the decision. Contact the LGBTI Legal Service for advice.

For more details on prohibited descriptors see the prohibited sex descriptor policy- RBDM Prohibited sex descriptors policy – RBDM Qld Policies – Publications | Queensland Government

Born outside Queensland

If you were born outside QLD you can apply for a recognised details certificate. This can be used as proof of gender in any situation where a birth certificate is used. You must have lived in QLD for over 12 months before you can apply for a recognised details certificate.

If you were born in another state in Australia you can update your birth certificate in your birth state. All states now have a nonbinary option for birth certificates. Some states still require medical affirmation, though none require surgery.

Updating your information in the community

Once you have updated your name or gender, you will need to separately notify different organisations.

Unfortunately, there are lots of discrepancies between organisations about what gender descriptions you can choose from and what supporting documentation you will need to provide. Many organisations still do not have any way to record a nonbinary gender, despite it being a legal obligation. This is not only disrespectful but can cause administrative issues in your day-to-day life.

Some organisations will share information with each other and might notice that your gender or name are different if you do not update them all. This is called data matching; they use it to detect fraud and to make it easier to do things like file your tax report or report your income to Centrelink. 

Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

The ATO records this personal information for data matching purposes, such as prefiling your tax return and verifying your identity.  If you have different genders recorded for Australian Government services or your employer, you may have some administrative problems, such as difficulty verifying your identity if you call the ATO, or not having your tax file pre-filled. 

The ATO also collects this information to detect tax fraud. If you record your name and gender differently across different agencies this is not fraud, but you may have to explain your situation to the ATO.

The ATO privacy policy prevents them from disclosing the name and gender they have recorded for you to your employers.

To update your gender (sex) with the Australian Tax Office you need either a statement from a doctor or psychologist, a birth certificate or passport. You need to send a certified copy of your supporting document, as well as a letter including: the name and address currently recorded with the ATO, a new name and title (if appliable), a request to update gender information, and your signature

Medicare and Centrelink both have the option of recording your gender as male, female or nonbinary.

You can update your gender and name with Medicare and Centrelink at the same time using the myGov website, by phone or post, or by visiting a Services Australia Centre.

Centrelink records your details for data matching. If you have a different gender recorded with Centrelink and other bodies that share information with Centrelink, including your school, TAFE, university, or the ATO you may have to provide information to Centrelink explaining this. 

Electoral Role

The Queensland Electoral Role has the option of recording your gender as male, female or “Unspecified”. You can update your enrollment online here: Update my details on the electoral roll – Australian Electoral Commission (aec.gov.au). You do not need to provide any supportive documents of your gender to update it. 

It is possible to enroll to vote under a name that is not your legal name. To do this you will need to provide your legal name and confirm it with an ID document such as your driver’s license or Medicare card. This could prevent you from being outed while voting.

Police

If you have changed your name you may want to tell the police. You can do this by filling in a Change of Personal Details Notification Form | Queensland Police Service.  

If you do not tell the police about your name change, this may cause problems when you interact with them, such as being outed by a previous name or them taking longer to confirm your identity. 

You can also use this form to tell the police about your gender. You can upload your birth certificate if you have updated it, or describe your gender in your own words. 

If you are interacting with police for the first time, they may make a note of your gender for their records. It is likely that they will guess your gender rather than asking you.  

Passport

Australian passports have the option of recording your gender as M, F or X. To change your gender on your passport you need either:

  • a birth certificate
  • a recognised details certificate 
  • supporting letter from a doctor or psychologist  

See our travel page for more information on what it means to have an X passport and how it impacts your travel options.  

License

Gender is no longer recorded on physical licenses in QLD, but your gender remains on your license record. To change the gender on your license records you must visit a transport and motoring customer service center in person with the same supporting documentation. 

Note that while your gender does not appear physically on your license, police will have access to your gender when they run your license through their systems. 

Gender and other details such as height and eye colour have been removed from licenses because facial recognition technologies have made this redundant. You will not be able to show your license as proof of your gender. If you want to provide photo ID supporting your gender, gender still appears on your passport.

Your children’s birth certificate

If you are a parent, you can change the gender listed for yourself on your children’s birth certificate. You can be listed on your child’s birth certificate as either mother, father or parent.  This can affirm your identity, or prevent you from being outed, when you enroll your children in school. You will need to submit a separate application for each of your children.