Women Speak Tasmania is calling on the Tasmanian Government to review the clinical pathways used by the Tasmanian Gender Service after new reporting about the evidentiary basis of WPATH guidance.
According to The Australian on 15 August, lawyers for WPATH told a US court that statements in its Standards of Care are “opinions about what conclusions existing scientific research supports” and described transgender healthcare as an area of “significant medical debate.”
In May, Women Speak Tasmania wrote to Health Minister Bridget Archer raising concerns about clinical governance, evidence quality, informed consent and the State’s duty of care to children receiving puberty suppression and gender-affirming hormones. In June the Minister replied that the Tasmanian Gender Service is consistent with current Australian standards and that Tasmania would monitor the NHMRC review.
WST President Dr Elizabeth Caballero said:
“The Tasmanian Government told us in June that the service is consistent with current Australian standards. But the issue is no longer simply whether a service complies with existing guidelines. We now have a serious question about the evidentiary foundations of those guidelines and the degree to which they have relied on WPATH.
“Children should not have to wait until 2028 for governments to ask whether the clinical model being applied to them is adequately supported by evidence.”
Women Speak Tasmania is asking the Government to:
- Commission an independent clinical governance review of the Tasmanian Gender Service;
- Implement transparent data collection on referrals, treatments, adverse events and outcomes;
- Ensure genuine informed consent that communicates both benefits and uncertainties in the evidence;
- Strengthen safeguarding for children with significant mental-health difficulties; and
- Consider interim safeguards while the NHMRC review proceeds.
“If the service is consistent with Australian standards that have been substantially influenced by WPATH guidance, what action will the Government now take in light of WPATH’s own court submission?” Dr Caballero asked.
“Waiting for a final national report in 2028 does not remove the Government’s present responsibility for the children already in the system. Where evidence is contested and interventions may have lifelong consequences, clinical governance must be exceptionally robust.”
ENDS
Media Contact:
Dr Elizabeth Caballero, retired GP
President, Women Speak Tasmania