The Australian revealed on Thursday Victoria’s curriculum has been updated to teach children as young as five that their body parts may not match their gender, and that biologically male students who identify as female are entitled to play sport on girls’ teams.
Concern over the “Respectful Relationships” curriculum, which was quietly amended in August last year, comes as parents and psychiatrists warn of a “school-to-clinic pipeline” for children struggling with adolescence who are persuaded they were born in the wrong body, and pushed towards irreversible and often harmful medical treatment.
Asked, in light of the Cass review, why Victoria is persisting with the gender affirming care model, Ms Allan did not engage with the finding of the review.
“Perhaps I was not clear enough in my previous answer. I’ll repeat again, transgender kids are 15 times more likely to kill themselves,” the Premier said.
“So whether it’s across our schooling system or across our health system, supporting those kids and supporting those families should be a priority because it’s the right thing to do.
The gender-affirming care model has been abandoned in a number of overseas jurisdictions, including the UK, where an independent review by pediatrician Hilary Cass last year concluded that the evidence base for medical interventions such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones was “remarkably weak”.
Queensland is the only Australian state to have banned new prescriptions for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors, amid a National Health and Medical Research Council review of the guidelines for care of trans and gender-diverse people under 18 with gender dysphoria. The review is expected to take four years.
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Could the Premier be asked from where the statistic comes as to suicide risk or actual taking of one’s life? What is the authority for this statistic? Further, could the issue of ignorance as to the Cass Report be pursued? It would be welcome for journalists to follow through rather than leaving issues unpursued. Readers should rightly be concerned about accuracy and accountability both of government and media.