CANBERRA, Australia, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A new policy in Australia allows transgender and intersex people to change the gender on their passport without having sex reassignment surgery.
Under the new guidelines, people only need a statement from a doctor supporting their preferred gender to change their passports, The Canberra Times reported Thursday.
''This amendment makes life easier and significantly reduces the administrative burden for sex and gender diverse people who want a passport that reflects their gender and physical appearance,'' Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said Wednesday.
Transgender and intersex advocacy groups around Australia have shown support of the policy change, which came at the recommendation of the Australian Human Rights Commission's Sex Files report.
Intersex is a term applied to people born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't conform to typical definitions of female or male, the Intersex Society of North American says on its Web site.
