Broad support for historic South Australia transgender inquiry

The nation’s first parliamentary inquiry into gender dysphoria will be put to a vote in SA with several conservative Labor MPs prepared to back the plan.

A South Australian inquiry into transgender care would examine thresholds for transitioning and the rights of parents.

Australia’s first ever parliamentary inquiry into gender dys­phoria will be put to a vote in South Australia on Wednesday, with several conservative Labor MPs prepared to back the plan amid a surge in transitioning cases in South Australia.

The inquiry will examine all facets of treatment and support for young people with gender dysphoria, the model by which their condition is assessed, and the process by which puberty blockers and hormones can be administered, and operations approved.

It will also consider the rights of parents and guardians in the assessment and treatment of young people and the role of government in providing education and health services for gender dysphoria.

The inquiry has won national support from those urging a pause in the management of gender dysphoria, including a Sydney woman suing her psychiatrist for negligence after undergoing a mastectomy and hysterectomy after just one consultation when she was 19.

While Labor’s Left faction is opposed to the inquiry, The Australian can reveal that several conservative Labor MPs want a conscience vote on the issue so they can support the bill.

Independent MP Frank Pangallo has spent the past year preparing the case for the inquiry and is being supported by the Liberal opposition in SA and by One Nation.

The Australian understands Premier Peter Malinauskas – who is from Labor’s Right faction – has been canvassed privately by Mr Pangallo but has not indicated his position. Mr Pangallo told The Australian he was not advocating a ban on gender dysphoria treatment, rather a thorough examination of the way cases are being managed amid concerns that some young people are being “rushed into making life-altering decisions they may come to regret”.

“Given the way the numbers have exploded, I’d have thought it is a pretty clear-cut issue of child protection we are talking about here,” Mr Pangallo said. “We need to make sure these kids aren’t making a decision that is ill-informed, or that they’re being pressured or rushed into it, or that they aren’t perhaps suffering from some other kind of mental health issue that can be resolved through other treatment.

“I am not coming at this from some right-wing angle, or any angle for the matter. I just think it is common sense that with a serious debate under way about the wisdom of what is being done here that we need to take stock and hear from both sides and let the cards fall where they may.”

SA Labor MP Frank Pangallo. Picture NCA NewsWire / Emma Brasier

Mr Pangallo’s push for the inquiry shows that despite Labor governments largely defending the status quo, or ducking calls to examine the issue, there are clearly many MPs in Labor ranks who share his disquiet over the case numbers and the model being used to treat young people.

In his speech to parliament, Mr Pangallo relied upon FOI ­material obtained by NSW Labor MLC Greg Donnelly revealing the number of children and adolescents being treated for gender dysphoria by SA’s Women’s and Children’s Health Network.

In 2020, the total number stood at 58, with 21 females and 17 males receiving puberty blockers and 13 females and seven males undergoing stage two gender-­affirming hormone treatment.

Just one year later, the total number jumped to 149, with 91 ­females and 58 males receiving different forms of treatment. They included 35 females and 33 males receiving puberty blockers and 26 females and 13 males ­undergoing stage two gender-­affirming hormone treatment.

The Australian has spoken to Labor MPs who hold private concerns about the issue and are prepared to vote for the inquiry if the question is resolved by a conscience vote.

That issue will be resolved when the SA Labor caucus meets on Tuesday when Mr Malinauskas returns from talks in Canberra about Adelaide’s future role in the frigates program.

The Labor Left is implacably opposed to the inquiry, fearing it will stigmatise young people suffering from gender dysphoria.

South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In his speech introducing the motion to parliament, Mr Pan­gallo said he believed people were reluctant to speak out or ask ­questions about the issue for fear of being labelled bigots.

“This is all about having a balanced perspective and learning more so that we as legislators can take a far more responsible approach in dealing with it,” he said.

“To ignore it would be at the peril of those we are trying to assist. I fully expect to be attacked by the transactivists and ideologues who dominate this arena. However, I want them to participate and contribute, to put aside the vexed politics. Yet raising it in the proper context of a public debate still attracts fury, hate and retribution.”

No Australian parliament has ever conducted a full inquiry into gender dysphoria policies, with One Nation senator Pauline Hanson last year failing in her bid to hold a national inquiry.

The Australian understands that if SA Labor allows a conscience vote, there are enough conservative Labor MLCs in the state’s Upper House with concerns about the issue for Mr Pangallo’s motion to prevail.

Sydney woman Jay Langadinos, now 33, said she believed the inquiry proposed in SA should also be conducted at the national level to make sure others did not endure the hardship she suffered through the health system after a gender dysphoria diagnosis.

Ms Langadinos had her breast, uterus and ovaries removed after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria when she was 19 after just one consultation with her psychiatrist, who she is now suing for negligence in the NSW Supreme Court.

“When a person decides to take a path of medical treatment it is because distressing thoughts associated with the body have consumed the mind,” Ms Langadinos told The Australian.

“It is important to ponder what could potentially be contributing to these feelings as the effects of our experiences are not always known, nor is the direction or path they lead us to. It’s important to unpack this prior by seeking to alleviate the distress through talking rather than medical treatment that could end in regret and soul-crushing sadness.”

Ms Langadinos said she did not want to see other young people subjected to the drastic surgery she endured off the back of a troubled time in her adolescence.

“Gender dysphoria is seen as an unusual and uncommon experience and an innate feeling, and medicalisation is seen as the answer to the alleviation of distress,” she said. “Distress is complex and multifaceted with many contributing factors. The voices of concern surrounding the harms of a gender transition need to be amplified.

“Conversations need to start happening and an investigation into gender dysphoria needs to happen. Without it, more will transition and more will suffer. An inquiry into gender dysphoria is incredibly important and should be done so nationally.”

Jillian Spencer is a psychiatrist at the Queensland Children's Hospital who has challenged gender affirming care for gender questioning young people.

This was echoed by Queensland psychiatrist Jillian Spencer, who was suspended from practice at Queensland Children’s Hospitals last April after raising concerns about the use of puberty blockers without appropriate mental health assessments.

“One of the issues is we have absolutely no way of determining how many kids will persist with their gender dysphoria, but we do know that a lot of them don’t,” Dr Spencer said. “An inquiry such as that proposed in SA is absolutely needed. If we could have an inquiry at the national level it would be a dream come true.”

SA Liberal senator Alex Antic has flagged a private member’s bill that in almost all cases would ban the use of puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone treatment. His bill would also strike doctors from practising if they took part in such procedures.

Mr Pangallo said he was not going down that path but believed the treatment of gender dysphoria needed to be “examined and reassessed” before possible chan­ges or restrictions were made.