Victoria will become the first Australian state to ban unnecessary surgeries on intersex children, with legislation to be introduced to parliament to ensure procedures are deferred until patients are old enough to consent to them.
The health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, will on Tuesday introduce the health safeguards for people born with variations in sex characteristics bill, which if passed would prohibit deferrable, irreversible procedures and treatments on intersex infants and children until they can provide informed consent.
Intersex people are born with variations in sex characteristics – such as reproductive organs, chromosomes or hormones – that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.
Thomas said the reform – first committed to in 2021 – gives intersex people agency over their own bodies. She said it follows instances where people born with variations in sex characteristics have experienced harm and trauma through inappropriate and unnecessary medical interventions.
“Every person deserves the right to make decisions about their own body, with respect, dignity and safety at the heart of the care they receive,” Thomas said.
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“This is an important step forward for people born with variations in sex characteristics and their families – who for too long have not had the fair and proper legal recognition of their rights.”
The legislation will not affect urgent interventions needed to save a life or prevent serious harm. But, under the changes, all other procedures and treatments would be reviewed by a new independent oversight panel.
If the panel recommends treatment, parents must consent on behalf of a child who cannot, while children judged capable of making their own medical decisions can consent themselves.
The process is designed to ensure families receive accurate information, understand treatment options, and have access to peer and psychosocial support when making decisions.
The need for the reform was underscored by an Equality Australia report released on Monday, which found infants and children were being subjected to irreversible procedures – including clitoral reduction and the removal of healthy gonads – for non-medical reasons.
The report, compiled from more than 240 documents released by major public hospitals under freedom of information laws, was only able to scrutinise 83 cases due to redactions.
Nearly half of the cases (47%), from Sydney and Brisbane between 2018 and 2023, involved cosmetic preferences, such as making genitals appear more “typical”. Other non-medical drivers included a desire to align the child with the gender assigned at birth (16.9%) and responding to parental distress or confusion (62.7%).
The report warned such procedures can have long-term consequences, including loss of sexual or reproductive function, urinary tract issues, ongoing or repeat surgeries and negative self-image.
Anna Brown, the chief executive of Equality Australia, said while she was yet to see the bill, she was hopeful it would protect the rights and autonomy of intersex children.
“We have a responsibility to protect children who cannot advocate for themselves, so they are no longer left to bear the physical and psychological scars of medical procedures they never chose,” Brown said.
“Too many intersex people have had to live with the consequences of decisions they had no real part in, and that could have waited until they were old enough to have a say.”
The bill brings Victoria in line with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the only jurisdiction in Australia to have banned non-consensual medical procedures on intersex people. They join a few countries globally – such as Malta, Germany, Greece, Spain and Portugal – that have similar laws.
