In early May, AAWAA made a submission to the Australian Human Rights Council’s national project mapping threats to trans and gender diverse (TGD) human rights in Australia.
We welcome the AHRC’s interest in the human rights of people who identify as TGD, and note the AHRC’s mandate to investigate actions or practices that could be inconsistent with or that threaten or violate human rights. We urged the Commission to fulfil this mandate and investigate the practice of gender medicine in Australia and recommend remedies to address inconsistencies.
A human rights approach to protecting people who identity as TGD in the context of medical interventions requires Australia to recognise our international responsibilities, and in turn ensure interventions are truly evidence-based, uphold genuine informed consent, avoid over-medicalising children and making irreversible decisions without adequate consideration of their long-term consequences. Unfortunately, Australian practice falls short.
Our recommendations were:
1. The AHRC develop and publish a framework for protecting the human rights of people who identify as TGD in the context of medical interventions, addressing,
- the principle of medical necessity
- the precautionary principle
- a child’s right to an open future
- the elements of consent freely given, and
- the proportionality principles engaged when derogating from fundamental rights including to health, to physical and mental integrity, to found a family, and the obligation on States to eliminate harmful practices that perpetuate gender stereotypes.
We noted that the Commission’s 2021 report on the human rights of people born with variations in sex characteristics should serve as a reference.
2. National Health Ministers develop a national regulatory framework to ensure accurate and consistent data collection and ongoing outcomes monitoring, in line with Australia’s human rights obligations.
3. The Commonwealth commission an independent review of Australia’s treatment guidelines by experts utilising evidence-based standards such as AGREE II and GRADE.
4. The Commonwealth review the composition of the LGBTQIA+ Health Expert Advisory Group to ensure a diversity of views, including clinicians who advocate alternative approaches to the affirmation model of TGD healthcare, as well as TGD detransitioners.
AAWAA has a demonstrated track record advocating for the human rights of people who identify as trans and gender diverse (TGD) including with the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, and in Australian parliamentary and governmental inquiries.
Read our full submission, below.
