



Australia is the only nation in the world that requires transgender teenagers to go through the court system before they can access cross-sex hormone treatment.

This treatment, which usually begins around age 15 or 16, entails transgender children receiving oestrogen or testosterone so they can develop the secondary sex characteristics of their identified gender.

Fiona Kelly, an associate professor of law at La Trobe University, who wrote Navigating The Stage 2 Process, told BuzzFeed News there is an "urgent need" to help families going through the process.

"There was a clear need, there was a lot of fear around the process," she said.

The guide, available online, explains the stages of the court process – from pre-trial preparation through to the hearing and decision – and addresses questions, for instance, what happens if parents are separated or divorced.

"Every Stage 2 case that has been heard by the Family Court has resulted

in the Court approving treatment. It would be a very rare situation where

the medical experts and parents supported treatment and the Court

did not," the guide reads.



The Family Court process has been criticised at length by legal experts such as Kelly, doctors who treat transgender children, the children themselves, their families, and politicians including Labor's Graham Perrett and the Greens' Janet Rice.