All entries on Feminist Legal Clinic’s News Digest Blog are extracts from news articles and other publications, with the source available at the link at the bottom. The content is not originally generated by Feminist Legal Clinic and does not necessarily reflect our views.
The ABC has conceded it “could have done better” and “should have provided more coverage” of a landmark Family Court judgment which made damning findings about the conduct of Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital gender clinic.
Responding to a complaint letter from interest group Parents of Adolescents with Gender Distress, ABC Editorial Director Gavin Fang admitted the public broadcaster’s failure to provide any news coverage of Justice Andrew Strum’s Re Devin judgment earlier this year was a shortcoming, but denied it constituted a breach of editorial standards.
In June, in response to an application by The Australian, Justice Strum identified Royal Children’s Hospital chief of medicine Michelle Telfer as the medical professional he had accused in his April Re Devin judgment of giving misleading evidence in support of a mother who wanted her 12-year-old child to be prescribed puberty blockers.
The April ruling highlighted serious concerns about the RCH gender clinic’s practices, including the lack of a formal gender dysphoria diagnosis for the child after six years of treatment, and the failure to explore alternative treatment options.
Justice Strum also savaged Professor Telfer — the lead author of Australia’s guidelines on gender-affirming care — for cheapening the suffering of victims of Nazism, after she likened the UK’s Cass review, which recommended restrictions on medication for children with gender dysphoria, to the victimisation of LGBTIQ+ people by Nazis in the 1930s.
The ABC failed to provide any news coverage of the judgment whatsoever, with a Law Report episode on Radio National the broadcaster’s only mention of the ruling.
The letter referred to earlier complaints PAGD had made to both the Australian Communications and Media Authority and ABC Managing Director Hugh Marks, including a letter sent to Mr Marks in June regarding the Strum judgment.
“As parents of adolescents experiencing gender distress, we are alarmed that ABC News has not covered this landmark ruling, despite its significant implications for clinical practice, child welfare, and public policy,” the parents wrote.
“The ABC has previously featured (Professor) Telfer in positive profiles, such as on Australian Story, without adequately addressing criticisms or alternative perspectives on pediatric gender-affirming care.
“This omission risks presenting a one-sided narrative and undermines the ABC’s commitment to journalistic balance and impartiality, as outlined in its editorial policies.
A PAGD spokeswoman, whose name The Australian has agreed not to publish out of concern for her child’s privacy, said Mr Fang’s letter was the first time her organisation had received a response where they felt the public broadcaster had given any genuine consideration to their concerns.
The spokeswoman said she “absolutely” believed the ABC’s partnership with LGBTIQ+ activist organisation ACON had influenced its coverage of gender affirming care, and failure to cover the Strum judgment.