Frequently Asked Questions about Marriage and the ‘reKevin’ decisions

We look like an opposite-sex couple, can we get legally married?

While both of you hold female birth certificates, under current Australian law, you cannot marry another female. Under Australian law, you are considered to be a same-sex couple. Same-sex marriage has no legal provision under current Australian law.

To be legally married, one of you must hold a female birth certificate and other a male birth certificate.

I was born overseas, how can I marry my female partner under Australian law?

If you were born overseas and have undergone male sex-affirmation treatment, as long as you can present legal evidence to your male legal-sex (corrected birth certificate from your country of birth), you should be able to be legally married under Australian law.

If you are unable to get a birth certificate in your male-sex from your country of birth, you can seek an appropriate order from the Family Court of Australia. Before issuing such an order, the Family Court will ensure that you are male according to the criteria laid down in the ReKevin decisions.
Click here to read more about this criteria under Australian Federal Law.

Our celebrant/priest/pastor etc won’t marry us – what can we do?

Men who can present a male birth certificate have legal evidence of their male legal-sex for the purposes of Australia’s marriage laws. This satisfies the Commonwealth’s guidelines to Marriage Celebrants regarding the restriction of marriage to parties who are legally members of the opposite-sex.

If you are able to present your male birth certificate and your partner can present her female birth certificate, and your celebrant/priest/pastor still refuses to marry you both, then you have some options:

you can find another celebrant/priest/pastor;
you can provide your celebrant/priest/pastor with a copy of the judgment (‘ReKevin decisions available on the Australasian Legal Information Institute website and the 2003 decision which dismissed the Government’s appeal); or
under Australian Law, you can take legal action against the celebrant under sex discrimination.

If you are able to present a male birth certificate as evidence of your male legal-sex and your partner can present her female birth certificate, legally you are no different to any other heterosexual couple in Australia.