Dec 2, 2025 – Intersex advocates and LGBTIQ+ groups have welcomed reforms in Victoria that would protect intersex children from unnecessary medical procedures without their consent. 

The Victorian Government on Tuesday introduced a Bill to parliament that will restrict deferable medical treatments until the person can make the decision themselves, with independent assessment panels to oversee medical treatment plans. 

It follows many decades of advocacy by intersex people and organisations, and similar legislation passed in the ACT in 2023.

Tony Briffa, long standing intersex advocate in Victoria, Co-Chair of InterAction for Health and Human Rights and patron of Equality Australia:

“This is about safeguarding every person’s right to make decisions about their own body. Procedures that alter sex characteristics raise profound and deeply personal questions - questions that I wish I had the chance to answer for myself. 

“Today is very emotional for me - I have spent 25 years fighting to see these reforms make it to parliament to protect future generations of intersex children in Victoria. 

“I commend the government for introducing legislation that protects a child’s right to make these incredibly personal and intimate decisions for themselves when they are mature enough, and I call on other states to adopt similar protections.” 

Dr Morgan Carpenter, bioethicist and Executive Director of Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA): 

“People with intersex variations routinely undergo harmful practices - unnecessary medical interventions before we can consent - to make our bodies fit gender stereotypes or to mitigate hypothetical risks of stigmatisation. 

“Unnecessary medical interventions without personal consent don’t reduce stigma - they reinforce it. The resulting loss of sensation, function and bodily autonomy all contribute to adverse physical and mental health. For decades, InterAction and our founding organisations have sought legislative protections from harmful practices. 

“Victoria is the first state and the second jurisdiction in Australia to introduce these vital reforms. We thank the government for its heartfelt support, we invite all members of parliament to support these measures, and we encourage other Australian governments to step up. 

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown:  

“These reforms will ensure intersex people can decide what happens to their own bodies, so they are not left with the physical and psychological scars of unnecessary medical decisions made about them without their say.  

“Too many intersex people have had to live with the consequences of decisions they had no real part in - and which could have waited until they were old enough to have a say.  

“We welcome this Bill which marks a significant development in advancing the human rights of intersex people in Victoria, and we urge all MPs to back these reforms and help protect future generations from harm.” 

The Victorian Bill includes a new system of oversight: 

• Restrictions on 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. 
• The creation of 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. 
• Treatment can only be approved if the person faces significant physical or psychological harm without it, and no safer, effective alternative exists.  
• Urgent, medically necessary care to protect life, health, or prevent serious pain or distress would continue without delay. 
• Patients and their families will be supported with consistent, clear information about the relevant intersex variation, proposed treatments, risks and benefits and alternatives, including deferring or not intervening at all.  
• Parents will continue to consent to medically necessary treatment on their child’s behalf, and clinicians will continue to lead medical care, supported by clearer safeguards and processes. 

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 variations considered intersex, but at least 40 known variations occur across approximately 1.7% 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. 

Equality Australia released a report on Monday providing insight into current surgical and other medical interventions on intersex children in Australia and the rationales driving these decisions.

For the report and fact sheet: https://equalityaustralia.org.au/take-action/campaigns/intersex-human-rights/ 

Contact: Mike Hitch, 0426 812 115