Australian Defence Force personnel sex-changes cost taxpayers more than $1m
TAXPAYERS have been billed more than $1 million for Defence Force personnel to have sex-change surgeries and treatment for gender dysphoria.
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TAXPAYERS have been slugged more than $1 million for Australian Defence Force personnel to undergo sex-change surgery and for treatment of gender dysphoria.
Seventeen defence force personnel had sex-change surgery — 10 being male-to-female reassignments — from November 2012 to March 2016, The Australian reports.
It cost taxpayers $1,052,330, not including pharmaceuticals dispensed by the ADF, according to Freedom of Information documents released this week.
Twenty seven ADF members also received treatment for gender dysphoria, which is the distress a person feels due to the sex and gender they were born with.
The publication reports internal Defence advice from July confirmed there was no existing policy on the management of transgender ADF members “aside from medical policy”.
“This is because transgender and transitioning members are administratively treated as their affirmed gender of male or female,” the advice said.
“Any ADF candidate with gender dysphoria is assessed by Defence Force Recruiting on an individual basis, against the inherent requirements of service and in accordance with the Defence Health manual.”
The Australian reports a previous policy on transgender personnel had been cancelled in June 2010 because it gave “inappropriate discretionary power” to commanding officers to consider discharge where “behaviour in identifying as the opposite gender ... could have serious consequences upon operational effectiveness, cohesion, morale and discipline”.
Other documents revealed the Australian military was grappling with practical challenges on how to deploy transgender personnel.
One document showed transgender members of the ADF were likely to be non-deployable for some time.
Another document titled “Navy Comments, Transgender” from last January showed there were also challenges around the use of facilities such as toilets and bathrooms.
It noted that those undergoing gender transitioning would “not be posted to ships”.
The document warned that “returning to sea post-transition (especially if the member does not undergo surgical reassignment) presents a range of challenges for the individual and the organisation”.
“A transitioning person may choose to use separate facilities such as an accessible toilet for disabled people,’’ the navy document says.
“However, it will be discriminatory to insist that the transitioning person permanently use facilities for the disabled.
“Should the situation arise where open communal same-sex showers are the only showers available ... the transitioning person and their commander or manager should discuss and agree upon an appropriate arrangement.”
Last month Defence confirmed gender-neutral personnel could face restrictions from key roles under moves to obtain special exemptions from sex discrimination laws.
Defence revealed it was considering reinstating an exemption to the Sex Discrimination Act after The Australian revealed an Australian Defence Force Academy cadet had claimed gender neutrality — also identified as gender X status — which under national guidelines refers to a person who is of a “non-binary gender”.
Bernard Gaynor, an Iraq War veteran sacked from the Army Reserves for criticising gender and sexuality diversity policies, told The Australian the documents highlighted the “sheer scale of bureaucratic Twister playing out inside Defence over rainbow inclusion”.
As the Australian military confronts the challenges, US President Donald Trump is dealing with a backlash to banning transgender personnel from serving in the military.
His July 26 tweets announcing the ban stated: “after consultation with my generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States government will not accept or allow transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. military.”
Originally published as Australian Defence Force personnel sex-changes cost taxpayers more than $1m
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