The Cass Review significance

Rodney Croome has failed to grasp the significance of the Cass Review ratings of gender clinics in Australia outlined in Ben Seeder’s important investigative article (Examiner 16 June 2024).

Dr. Cass alarming ratings on the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne have direct implications for service delivery at the Tasmanian Gender Service.

In 2019 the National Association of Practicing Psychiatrist (NAPP) had urged the federal government to set up a parliamentary enquiry into the treatment of gender dysphoria in children in Australia to no avail.

The gold standard for treatment of children with gender dysphoria was released by the Australian NAPP in 2022. NAPP’s standard of care is the same as recommended by the Cass Review.

In advocating for the LGBTIQA+ community, Rodney Croome needs to read the Cass Review recommendations so that his comments better reflect the evidence and the science.

The Cass Review additionally reported from whistleblower’s concerns, including in Australia, about the ideological pressure put on gender clinic staff by political lobby groups such as Equality Tasmania.

Health Minister Guy Barnett has decided to ignore relentless pressure from ideologically driven lobby groups such as Equality Tasmania who continue to spruik medical interventions that have now been thoroughly discredited.

Guy Barnett should nevertheless act to suspend puberty blockers being prescribed by the Tasmanian Gender Service and the private health sector pending the results of a national enquiry.

Isla MacGregor

Letter to the Examiner