Synopsis:

In 2004, the Family Court of Australia defined hormone treatment for transgender adolescents as a “special medical procedure”. This created a law which necessitated that all transgender adolescents were required to gain legal authority from the Family Court of Australia should they wish to medically transition to their affirmed gender identity. Even with the consent of the young person, their parents and approval of the medical team involved, court authority was required. This situation was unique to Australia, with no other jurisdiction in the world having such legal barriers to treatment.

With the legal process being harmful to transgender young people and their families, clinicians from the RCH Gender Service teamed up with academic legal experts, transgender children, adolescents and their families to form a coalition of experts to advocate for change. Following 5 years of lobbying, the law was overturned through a case known as Re Kelvin. This Grand Rounds takes you through the journey towards positive change, demonstrating the role that RCH played in advocating, and ultimately succeeding, in improving treatment access to this vulnerable population.

Speaker:

Associate Professor Michelle Telfer is a Paediatrician and Adolescent Medicine Specialist. She is Head of Department of Adolescent Medicine at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) Melbourne and the Director of the RCH Gender Service, being instrumental in the expansion of the service with rising demand for trans-medicine in children and adolescents over the past six years.  Michelle is also the lead author of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for trans and gender diverse children and adolescents which was recently endorsed through an editorial in The Lancet. The RCH Gender Service was awarded the Minister for Mental Health’s Award in both 2015 and 2018 for excellence in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Victorians, consumer leadership and advocacy at the Victorian Public Healthcare Awards.