Gender identity
David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:05): (470) My question is for the Attorney-General. In 2021 the Parliament passed the Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act 2021. Whilst there was broad support for some of the general aims of this legislation, some people, including me and my party, were concerned about some of the specifics of these laws, believing that they went too far. One positive element of this legislation, however, was that it had an in-built mechanism for an independent review of the legislation within two years. My understanding is that this review should currently be underway. My question for the Attorney is: who is conducting the review and what is the current status?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:06): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question. I will have to seek some advice in relation to making sure I can provide you an accurate answer in relation to your question, and I will endeavour to do that asap.
David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:06): My supplementary was related to the review. As I did not get an answer, I am not sure that I can ask it and make sense. I shall await the Attorney’s response on the review.
A member: You can ask it anyway.
David LIMBRICK: All right. One of the more complex and controversial areas in transgender medical care is related to therapeutic inventions for children experiencing gender distress, with several jurisdictions, most recently the NHS in the UK, moving away from the routine use of puberty blockers. Despite this lack of consensus, the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission have listed on their website as some of their examples of conversion practices a parent denying their child access to healthcare services that would affirm their child’s gender identity and also a parent rejecting the recommendations of qualified health professionals and refusing to support their child’s request for medical treatment that would prevent physical changes from puberty. These examples were recently and rather curiously removed from the human rights commission’s website. My question is: was this a result of the independent review’s examination?
Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Attorney-General, Minister for Emergency Services) (12:08): Mr Limbrick, the reason it is wise for me to take your question on notice is because although I have legislative responsibilities connected to VEOHRC and indeed the legislation, a lot of the issues that you have drawn on come from other portfolios, particularly health. It is on that basis that I will come back to you with some information in relation to the review and the scope.