Australian teenagers experiencing gender dysphoria will be able to undergo hormone treatment without requiring court approval after a landmark decision by the federal court on Thursday.

Before the ruling, Australia was the only country in the world that required court involvement to allow treatment. Pressure had been mounting from advocacy groups, lawyers, transgender people and their families for the requirement to be overturned. They argued that the court process was costly, traumatic and unnecessary, given that medical experts were also involved.

The case before a federal court concerned a 16-year-old transgender man who made an application to the family court to approve his testosterone treatment. The case was referred up to the full court, which was asked reconsider its role in such cases. On Thursday afternoon a full sitting of the family court handed down its decision, determining that a court decision was not necessary to approve hormone treatment in cases where a child had given consent, their treating medical practitioners agreed that the child was competent to give that consent and when the parents of the child did not object to the treatment.

Hilary Kincaid, the principal solicitor at the Inner City Legal Centre, represented the applicants in the case and said the judgment would mean transgender youth could make important decisions with their parents and doctors and without the stress of court interference.

“Not to mention the expense,” she said. “We are a free service but some private firms represent people full-fee in cases like this and I estimate this can cost between $10,000 and $15,000, not to mention the cost to families of getting expert medical reports for evidence.”

The director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre, Anna Brown, described the decision as a “stunning victory” for young transgender people.

“This will make a profound difference to the lives of many young trans people who will now be relieved of the burden of a costly and unnecessary court process in order to access hormone treatment that supports them to be who they are,” she said.

“Doctors and parents are able make decisions about every other kind of medical treatment for young people – including ethically complex decisions that weigh up risks and the consequences of not undergoing treatment – and gender dysphoria should be no different.”

The decision departs from the last judgment of the full court in case known as Re Jamie, in which trans teenager and now the young Victorian Australian of the year Georgie Stone unsuccessfully challenged the court’s role.

“This bizarre legal anomaly was born of outdated attitudes to trans young people and a lack of understanding of just how far medical science and treatment of gender dysphoria has come in recent years,” Brown said.

The not-for-profit legal information service Justice Connect established the Stage 2 Access project to help young trans people and their families to navigate the court process to access hormone treatment. A lawyer with the project, Sally Priestley, said the court had recognised on Thursday that the process was unfair.



“Importantly, also, for the young people themselves, going to court can be hugely taxing,” Priestley said. “The court environment is bad enough for people who aren’t forced to seek permission to have their body align with their identity.

“This decision is a huge victory for so many young people and their families. The latest research shows that there are probably around 45,000 trans and gender-diverse young people in Australia, and this will save them enormous amounts of money, time and heartache.”