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The final slate of reforms from the Equality Amendment Act , marking a significant step forward for transgender and non-binary people.

The new LGBTIQ rights laws, introduced by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich and passed last October, aim to bring NSW into line with the rest of the country.

Trans and gender diverse people can now change their sex markers on birth certificates and other identification documents to reflect how they identify and live, without having to undergo gender-affirming surgery.

“Non-binary” and “not-specified (blank)” are now also options on birth certificates.

NSW was the last state to force trans people to undergo surgeries and medical examinations before being able to update their sex descriptor.

Norrie, the first person to be officially recognised as “non-binary”, told �鶹��ý that while the law that recognised them as non-binary was enacted in 1996, it was only implemented after the High Court ruled on their case in 2014.

“This update, recognising self-determination without surgical hurdles, is long overdue,” Norrie said. “But it is to be welcomed and celebrated that all the major parties have finally agreed to ... equality and inclusion.”

Teddy Cook, senior advisor at Equality Australia, described the change as a “”. “Adults and young people will no longer have to be examined by a medical professional, require surgery or have to prove to anyone else that we are who we say we are,” Cook said. “Not all trans people want to have surgery, and legal recognition of who we are is a human right.”

He also highlighted the “prohibitive cost and other barriers” to accessing surgeries, which made it unviable for many trans people, “even those desperately wanting surgery”.

Also included in the new laws is the ability for parents or guardians of trans people under 18 to apply for the sex marker change on their birth certificate, and for family members to update their own birth certificate to accurately reflect how their trans relative identifies.

The laws introduce an additional 80 days to register a birth with the state if variations in sex characteristics make it difficult to determine an appropriate sex marker. They also update the Mental Health Act (2007) to clarify that not identifying with your born gender is not a mental illness and is not a reason to be detained.

They also provide a pathway to recognise rainbow families made through overseas surrogacy arrangements.

“Every child deserves the same legal recognition of their families, regardless of how they were born. These reforms help move us closer to that goal,” said Ashley Scott, executive officer of Rainbow Families. He added that there is “much more to do to ensure the law works well to protect surrogates, parents and children alike”.

These reforms follow on from those implemented last December, which included updating the: Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 to ensure that threats to “out” a person can be grounds for an apprehended violence order or an apprehended personal violence order; Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 to ensure crimes motivated by hatred towards trans and intersex people are treated in the same way as hate crimes motivated by hatred of other groups; Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 to remove stigmatising language affecting people with HIV or AIDS; and Summary Offences Act 1988 to remove the offence of living on the earnings of sex work.

While the reforms have been widely welcomed, many LGBTIQ organisations criticised Greenwich last October for gutting the original 35-page bill under pressure from conservative MPs and lobby groups.

The original bill would have ensured protection for LGBTIQ teachers and students in religious schools and extended protections that gay, lesbian and trans people have under the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act to bisexual, non-binary and intersex people.

Greenwich responded by suggesting that a NSW Law Reform Commission review of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act will pave the way for these protections.

But Carol Matthews, NSW/ACT branch secretary of the Independent Education Union, which represents staff in non-government schools, .

“There are no guarantees this long-running review will recommend protections for teachers and school staff in faith-based schools … Nor is there any guarantee the NSW government will legislate any recommendations arising from the review,” she said last October.

Equality Australia legal director Heather Corkhill also voiced concern: “NSW has some of the least progressive and most ineffective anti-discrimination laws in the country.

“People are genuinely shocked to discover that a private school in NSW can legally fire a teacher for being gay or deny a student a leadership position because they are trans,” Corkhill said.

“Our anti-discrimination laws have barely been updated in the 50 years since they were first written and it’s time they reflected who we are as a society.”