Updating your gender details with Centrelink

Update your gender details

Our Centrelink personal records system allows us to record your gender as male, female or non-binary.

You don’t have to update your gender details. It's your choice.

How to update your gender details

If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, you can update your gender online. To do this:

sign in to myGov or the myGov app and select Centrelink
from your homepage, select MENU
select My details
select Personal and contact details
select Update personal and interpreter details.

If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you’ll need to create them. You can also phone us.

If you’re a primary carer and you need to update your child’s gender, you’ll need to phone us. A primary carer is the person with the highest percentage of care for the child. This can include parents, carers, foster carers or grandparents.

You can also choose to update your Medicare records, read more about how you update your name, date of birth or gender for Medicare.

You might also choose to update your Child Support record, read more about managing changes to your child support.

Supporting documents to update your gender

You will need to give us supporting documents to update your gender if you’re either:

updating your gender in your Medicare or Child Support personal record
verifying your identity under an international agreement with Centrelink.

Supporting documents can be any of the following:

a statement from a Registered Medical Practitioner or Registered Psychologist verifying your gender
a valid Australian Government travel document, such as a valid passport showing your gender identity
a state or territory birth certificate showing your gender identity
a state or territory Gender Recognition Certificate or Recognised Details Certificate showing a state or territory Registrar of Birth, Deaths and Marriages has accepted a change in sex.

If you can’t visit us, you can mail us copies.

When you update your gender, we’ll need all of the following:

copies of your supporting documents
a signed letter with your name, date of birth and gender details.

The letter can be hand written or printed but it must be hand signed by you. You can mail it to us.

Update your name or title

It’s important to tell us if you change your legal name. You can also tell us the name and title you prefer to use when dealing with Centrelink.

If you need to update your name with Medicare, you’ll need to phone us.

If you need to update your name with Child Support, you can do this in your Child Support online account. You can also phone us.

Gender definitions

Sex

The chromosomal, gonadal and anatomical characteristics associated with biological sex.

Gender

A part of a person’s personal and social identity. It refers to the way a person feels, presents and is recognised in the community.

Non-binary gender

Those who don't fall within the traditional binary notions of sex and gender, such as male and female. This may include people who identify as:

a gender different to their birth sex
neither male or female
whose cultures may have their own terms for gender identities outside male and female.

Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender

We’ve committed to applying the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender. We support people who identify as being of a different gender to their assigned sex at birth.

Read the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender on the Attorney-General’s Department website.