Correcting Other Records

Overview

There are several issues to consider in correcting records. Is the organisation in question willing to change your records? If you've changed the sex designation on your birth certificate, can you prove you're the same person? If they will change their record of your personal details, do they keep a record of what the details used to be? And do you want them to know about the change at all? Where possible, it may be better to just close your old accounts completely and open new ones under your new name. Where that is not possible or desirable, the Privacy Act gives you the right to see all information an organisation holds about you, so you can find out exactly what their records say and therefore what needs to be changed.

Driver's Licence

You can get a new Driver's Licence issued by showing your Birth Certificate. There will probably be a small reissuing fee. Since the licence does not incude a sex designation, this should be the only change you'll ever need to make. The new photo Drivers Licences are likely to be requested as identification more often, which makes correcting it more important. It is possible that the Land Transport Safety Authority records your sex in their files, even though it's not shown on the licence itself; if you're concerned, ask, and hope they're willing to correct it if necessary. They should have no right to refuse if your birth certificate has been corrected, and may be cooperative. It might be possible to apply for a new Drivers Licence from scratch, taking all the tests again, if you really want to minimise any chance of your old name being linked to your new licence, but I'm unsure of the legality of doing so, or the risks of getting discovered.

Passport

You can get a new passport by showing your Birth Certificate and paying the usual passport application fees. The passport does include a sex designation, which cannot be corrected before surgery. However, you can request to have it left blank by writing a statutory declaration on the application form, and after surgery (and correcting your birth certificate) the correct sex will be recorded. I would not recommend pretending that you've never had a passport before under a different name - the Passport Office probably has access to Births, Deaths, and Marriages' confidential records.

Qualifications

I'm not sure what the situation is for school records... if you went to a single sex school (or a school that thought it was, rather), changing your name on the records might not be very helpful. But since the NZ Qualifications Authority doesn't print the school you went to on their certificates, it wouldn't hurt to ask them to update their records and send you replacement copies. At least some universities are willing to update your records and delete any old information. But you may have to pay for a replacement copy of your degree. Policies for other qualifications providers will vary, but if the qualification is important to you, contact them and find out. In my experience most organisations are quite cooperative.

Other Records

Other organisations you may need to inform of the changes include the IRD, the electoral role, and WINZ if applicable. Some accounts you may possibly be able to close and reapply for under your new name, depending on your preferences, eg library memberships, magazine subscriptions, bank accounts and credit cards, ISPs, utilities (phone, power, etc). Your Driver's Licence can be used as proof of identity without raising the gender issue. In some cases not having a history in your new name can be a problem, though. An alternative to closing some accounts can be adding your new name as a seperate person (eg claim to be your own flatmate), and later removing the old name.

If you do wish to keep existing accounts, in my experience most organisations are willing to change your name on presentation of your Birth Certificate, or in some cases even just on request. If they record your sex at all, they may be willing to correct it without documentation based on your name and appearance. If they aren't cooperative about the sex designation, it might be possible to leave with just the name change, and come back later claiming that the inaccurate sex designation must have been an error (it would be sensible to talk to a different person the second time around). There should be no excuse for any organisation to refuse to change their records of your sex after you've corrected your Birth Certificate. However, there is still no guarantee that a record of the change will not be kept. When correcting existing records, remember you need some proof that you're the same person you used to be, which a corrected Birth Certificate does not supply. It's generally more sensible to get records corrected after you've changed your name, but before correcting the sex designation on your Birth Certificate.

External Links

• The LTSA - the Land Transport Safety Authority, responsible for driver's licenses
• The Passport Office
• NZ Qualifications Authority
• The IRD - the Inland Revenue Department, ie taxes
• The Electoral Role
• WINZ - Work and Income NZ, ie unemployment benefit etc.