I’m thrilled legislation to protect the health and wellbeing of children born with biological variations of sex characteristics has passed the Victorian Parliament and will become law. The legislation will:
- Restrict any permanent or hard-to-reverse medical treatments altering the sex characteristics of intersex children or adults unable to give informed consent, in both public and private settings.
- Create an independent expert panel made up of people with lived experience and experts across medicine, human rights, ethics, mental health and law, to oversee medical treatment plans for intersex children and others who don’t have capacity to consent.
- Ensure treatment can only be approved if the person faces significant physical or psychological harm without it, and no safer, effective alternative exists.
- Ensure that urgent, medically necessary care to protect life, health, or prevent serious pain or distress would continue without delay.
- Provide patients and their families with support including consistent, clear information about the relevant intersex variation, proposed treatments, risks and benefits and alternatives, including deferring or not intervening at all.
For more information see:
