Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, on June 12, 2025. AAP Image/Matt Turner
Women’s advocacy group Women’s Forum Australia is calling on the South Australian Government to release the findings of a review into children as young as 11 receiving gender treatments without first undergoing a psychiatric assessment, a standard prerequisite in the state.
They are also calling for a public, independent review into the Gender Diversity Service at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, operated by the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN), part of SA Health.
According to an internal review commissioned by the WCHN, 22 children aged 11 to 18 had not received adequate mental health assessments before receiving treatment at the hospital.
Women’s Forum Australia spokeswoman Stephanie Bastiaan said children had support from psychologists, but noted that there was a significant difference between seeing a psychologist and being assessed by a psychiatrist.
“And that distinction matters because children presenting with gender distress often have co-morbid mental health issues and/or neurodivergence,” she said on X.
“A proper psychiatric assessment should identify and explore these issues.”
Bastiaan also criticised the government’s stance that the failed procedures had been a “mistake.”
“One or two cases would be serious enough,” she said.
“Twenty two [cases] indicate a systemic failure-how were the required safeguards repeatedly bypassed? Who was responsible for ensuring they were followed? What measures are in place now?”
Bastiaan said one parent had informed her that their child had been approved for puberty blockers after two 45-minute consultations.
She said parents were also being directed to “gender-affirming” doctors and links to pro-trans websites.
Minister Denies Staff Pushing Youths into Gender Treatments
South Australian Health Minister Blair Boyer said his government would stand by its decision not to make the findings of the report public, but said he might consider releasing its recommendations.
“They [young people] did have, I understand, support from a psychologist, but not having the added level of a consult with a psychiatrist went against our model of care,” he told FIVEAA Radio.
“I think there’s kind of this this view out there that perhaps the contents of the report might be suggesting that the services in some way need to stop or something like that. But I can tell you that that’s not the case.”
Boyer disagreed with concerns that staff in the gender section were encouraging young people to proceed with treatments.
“They give very, very frank medical advice to those young people and families around what the gender affirming care might mean, and in many cases, it results in that family and young person actually deciding not to go ahead with it all,” he said.
The minister acknowledged that a lack of clarity can create information vacuums, as in the case of the withheld report.
“I always try to be as transparent as I can, because I know in the vacuum of information from ministers and governments, people tend to fill in the blanks, and often that’s actually not necessarily correct,” he said.
