February 6, 2025 — Equality Australia and intersex advocates have welcomed the passage of landmark legislation through Victoria’s lower house that will protect intersex children from unnecessary and irreversible medical procedures.
The bill passed without opposition on Thursday.
“These reforms are about stopping unnecessary harm - not stopping necessary and appropriate care,” said Equality Australia Legal Director Heather Corkhill.
“Intersex people deserve the right to decide what happens to their own bodies, rather than being subjected to interventions that are not medically necessary and can cause permanent physical and psychological harm.”
Under the legislation, deferrable medical interventions would be delayed until a person is able to make the decision for themselves with independent assessment panels overseeing proposed treatment plans.
The reforms follow decades of advocacy by intersex people and community organisations, and build on similar protections introduced in the ACT in 2023.
Ms Corkhill said the changes were critical to preventing lifelong harm.
“Too many intersex children are still at risk of undergoing unnecessary medical procedures that could be safely delayed or avoided altogether if the right safeguards were in place,” she said.
Tony Briffa, long standing intersex advocate in Victoria, Co-Chair of InterAction for Health and Human Rights and patron of Equality Australia:
“The passage of this bill through the lower house is a defining moment in my life, and an extraordinary moment for my community.
“What happened to me, and to many others, was wrong.
“I now call on every member of parliament in the upper house to support this legislation, which simply protects a child’s right to make deeply personal and intimate decisions for themselves, when they are mature enough to do so.”
Sean Mulcahy, policy advisor for the Victorian Pride Lobby:
“This bill will prohibit medical practitioners from knowingly or recklessly performing deferrable medical treatments on intersex children without their consent and without an approved treatment plan.
“Independent oversight would provide clarity, accountability and human rights–based guidance, without standing in the way of urgent care, helping ensure every child has the chance to decide what happens to their own bodies.
“This bill ensures there is appropriate caution before medical treatments that alter a child’s sex characteristics are performed.”
Dr Morgan Carpenter, bioethicist and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA):
“I’d like to warmly thank the Members of the Legislative Assembly for their support for the bill, and for a heartfelt, respectful and kind debate, and the overwhelming vote of support for the proposals today. The bill proposes to regulate a small set of medical interventions on children who are too young to express their own views of treatment. The bill is the product of more than five years of long, careful and detailed consultation with all stakeholders.
“While no convictions are ever likely, it provides for proportionate and necessary penalties for non-compliance. I hope that the Legislative Council debate will be as thoughtful, and the bill will pass without amendment.”
Background:
People with intersex traits differ from medical and social norms for male and female bodies including differences in anatomy, reproductive organs or hormonal and chromosomal patterns.
There is no universal agreement on the number of variations or the precise population of people considered to have variations in sex characteristics, but at least 40 known variations occur across approximately 1.7 per cent of the population.
In October 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) urged all Australian governments to implement measures that prevent harmful medical interventions on intersex people without personal consent.
Earlier this year, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) passed a motion at its annual conference calling for the deferral of all non-urgent medical and surgical interventions for intersex people who can’t consent to them.
In March 2023, the ACT passed the nation’s first laws to protect intersex people from medical procedures made without their say.
Intersex children often undergo medical procedures before reaching the age of consent that can have long-term consequences, including:
- Loss of sexual function and sensation
- Loss of fertility
- Urinary tract issues, including incontinence
- A need for ongoing medical treatment/repeat surgeries
- Incorrect gender assignment
- Loss of autonomy and loss of choice
- Negative self-image.
Media contact: Mike Hitch
