In an Australian first, the ACT has introduced a bill to protect the rights and choices of people with variations in sex characteristics in medical settings.
Introducing the legislation, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said that having a variation in sex characteristics (also called intersex) meant that part of a person’s body, like genitals or features that emerge in puberty, did not fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies.
He said the Variation in Sex Characteristics (Restricted Medical Treatment) Bill 2023 recognised that people with variations in sex characteristics should not be subject to harm through inappropriate medical interventions.
“It has long been recommended, through national and international reviews and by the intersex community, that Governments take action to protect the human rights of intersex people in medical settings and for irreversible and non-urgent procedures to be deferred until the person is old enough to be able to decide for themselves what is done to their bodies,” Mr Barr said.
“There are people with variations in sex characteristics and their families who have experienced harm through inappropriate medical interventions,” he said.
“This Bill provides a new approach that seeks to prevent those experiences from being repeated.”
Mr Barr said the reforms would give intersex people and their families more support and expert guidance for their medical treatment choices.
He said the legislation was part of significant reform that would see the ACT provide $2.6 million over four years in new services and support, including an improved decision-making framework, the establishment of a Variation in Sex Characteristics Psychosocial Support Unit at The Canberra Hospital, and training packages for health professionals.
