The number of Australian teenagers pleading with the Family Court for an irreversible sex-change has risen by 360 per cent since 2013.

In 2013 five applications for a sex-change were lodged by the parents of teenagers.

That number rose to 19 in 2015 and 23 in 2016, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Currently parents need to seek the Family Court's permission for stage-two hormonal treatment and stage-three reconstruction for gender dysphoria.

Family law experts have attributed the rise in numbers to increased awareness in the media (stock)

Every request so far has been approved.

One lawyer who represents gender dysphoria cases told The Daily Telegraph she saw a 300 per cent rise in cases passing through New South Wales alone, in the past four years.

Family law experts have attributed the rise in numbers to increased awareness.

Family lawyer Laura Gardiner said reality TV star and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner's high-profile case also created much needed public awareness.

Inner City Legal Centre principal Hilary Kincaid confirmed she had three cases in 2013 but there were now 19 applications before the court.

She told The Daily Telegraph she also consulted a further two families each week.

'I think it is because there is so much more awareness of transgender issues in the media – we have kids and their parents that are identifying exactly with that,' she said.

Family lawyer Laura Gardiner said reality TV star and Olympian Caitlyn Jenner's (pictured) high-profile case also created much needed public awareness

The parent of a transgender child told The Daily Telegraph transgender children suffered hugely and it was not something parents would ever choose for their child (stock)

She said some transgender children were so uncomfortable in their own bodies they hated showering and even wore garments to flatten their breasts.

The parent of a transgender child told The Daily Telegraph transgender children suffered hugely and it was not something parents would ever choose for their child.

'Parents don't want young people to be trans … but we go through immense changes in ourselves to learn to accept utterly what they are telling us, and learn that they do actually know themselves in such a matter as gender,' they said.