Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council lead candidate Lyle Shelton has welcomed the vindication of Queensland child psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer, saying her treatment should be a turning point in Australia's approach to so-called "gender-affirming care" for children.
Dr Spencer has been cleared following a years-long ordeal after raising concerns about the treatment of gender-distressed children at Queensland Children's Hospital. As part of a settlement, the hospital acknowledged that her concerns were legitimate and grounded in her expertise as an experienced child and adolescent psychiatrist.
"Dr Jillian Spencer has shown extraordinary courage in standing up for vulnerable children when it would have been far easier to remain silent," Mr Shelton said.
"She has paid a very high personal and professional price simply for insisting that medicine should be guided by evidence, careful assessment and the best interests of children rather than ideology."
Mr Shelton said the Queensland Children’s Hospital's acknowledgement that children should not be placed on a predetermined medical pathway reinforced what Family First has been saying all along.
"The international evidence has shifted dramatically. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland have moved away from the routine medicalisation of gender-confused children because the evidence of benefit is weak while the risks are profound.
"Queensland has already halted the prescribing of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for new child patients in its public health system. NSW should not wait any longer."
Mr Shelton said that if elected to the NSW Legislative Council in March, Family First would move legislation to close NSW's child gender clinics and end the medicalisation of children experiencing gender confusion.
“Our Victorian candidates, led by Jane Foreman, will do the same there if elected in November.
"Children struggling with gender confusion deserve compassionate, holistic care that addresses underlying mental health challenges, trauma, autism spectrum conditions and other contributing factors. They do not need irreversible medical interventions that can leave them sterilised, sexually dysfunctional and lifelong medical patients.
"As Dr Spencer said, the era of ideology-driven medicine must end. Children deserve evidence-based care, not experimental treatments with life-altering consequences."
Mr Shelton also said Dr Spencer's experience highlighted the need to protect medical professionals who raise genuine patient safety concerns.
"No doctor should fear career destruction for questioning a contested medical practice in good faith. Scientific debate is essential to good medicine, and whistleblowers acting in the interests of patients deserve protection, not punishment.
"Family First congratulates Dr Spencer for her courage and perseverance. History will judge those who spoke up for children far more kindly than those who sought to silence them."
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