Meredith Griffiths reported this story on Tuesday, July 5, 2016 18:15:00

MARK COLVIN: The Chief Justice of Australia's Family Court has told the ABC the system is failing transgender kids and she wants to change it urgently.



Australian children with body dysphoria seeking medical treatment to change their gender must get approval from the Family Court.



But new research says the process harms children.



Meredith Griffiths reports



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Annabelle Sharling was born a boy, but from the moment she could choose her own clothes, she picked dresses.



At age three she began to realise people were staring at her and she became more anxious about her clothing when she started primary school.



ANNABELLE SHARLING: I always wanted to wear the girls' clothes to school, the girls' school uniform, but I was just too afraid that they would think it was wrong.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Annabelle Sharling felt she wasn't being herself



ANNABELLE SHARLING: I felt like I wasn't even a person, just kind of nothing.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: With the support her family, the nine-year-old chose her new name and this year started attending school as a girl.



As she grows older, Annabelle Sharling will start taking medication to delay puberty and stop her developing male characteristics.



As a teenager, she and her team of doctors will decide whether she should begin taking hormones to give her female characteristics.



That's known as 'stage two' treatment.



Even if Annabelle Sharling, her family and her doctors all agree that's best for her, she will still need to get permission from a Family Court judge.



Australia is the only country in the world with that requirement.



In an exclusive interview with Lateline, the Family Court's Chief Justice, Diana Bryant, says that's because of previous court judgements including one about a child who was a ward of the state.



She says the issue came to a head in 2012.



DIANA BRYANT: What the full court said, however, was that if the child was competent to make decisions about their medical treatment in relation to stage two, then they would not need the court's permission for stage two treatment.



However, there was a caveat to that, and that caveat was that the court needed to decide whether the child was competent.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Chief Justice Bryant was involved in that decision and assumed it would lead to changes to the application process.



DIANA BRYANT: I anticipated that it would be a fairly simple procedure and indeed a procedure that the parties could do without the necessity for lawyers, but that didn't eventuate.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: La Trobe University law professor, Fiona Kelly, has been speaking to families with transgender children who have or will, go through the court approval process.



FIONA KELLY: It was a universal message, that the court experience was traumatic for them and their children, that it was expensive, that it created delays in treatment, and it caused a huge emotional toll on the children and their parents.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Dr Kelly spoke to 10 families but the issue affects many more.



The number of children experiencing body dysphoria is growing, says Dr Michelle Telfer from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.



In 2014, the hospital's gender clinic had 18 referrals, this year it's on track to have 250.



MICHELLE TELFER: Although people may see suddenly that, "Wow, there's all these people coming forward" and it's contagious, it's spreading. It's not the, it's really about social circumstances and people actually just feeling able to come forward and to speak out.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Chief Justice Bryant says she's approached the Attorney-General's office about changing the court approval process.



DIANA BRYANT: I've asked the department if we could organise a round table involving the major hospitals, which are really at this stage in Melbourne and Brisbane and members of the department and other relevant stakeholders and just see if we can sort out a simpler and consistent method of dealing with these matters.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: She's thinking perhaps an application that judges could deal with directly in their chambers.



DIANA BRYANT: I accept that it is difficult and stressful and we need to try and find some more simple solution.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Annabelle Sharling says she is a lot happier since transitioning.



ANNABELLE SHARLING: Being a girl is amazing; I really, really, really like being a girl.



MEREDITH GRIFFITHS: Her family have been dreading going to court, they are hoping now they won't have to.



MARK COLVIN: Meredith Griffiths and you can see the full story tonight on Lateline.