A major funding boost to Australia’s only multidisciplinary clinic for children with gender dysphoria will save countless lives, the chief executive of Transgender Victoria, Sally Goldner, has said.
The Victorian government announced on Monday that the gender dysphoria service at the Royal Children’s hospital in Melbourne would receive an additional $6m over four years.
The unit has been in dire need of assistance. There is a waiting list of more than one year for treatment. Patient numbers have increased from seven in 2007 to 104 in 2014 and up to 150 new referrals are expected this year.
“This funding will be life-changing and life-saving for trans and gender-diverse people,” Goldner said. “The distress, particularly at puberty, when you have a heightened awareness of your body and your mind is going one way but your body is going another, is like being torn apart.
“Reducing the waiting list to get help is essential, with between 30% and 50% of trans people attempting suicide.”
Gender dysphoria is a condition where children feel a strong and continuous desire to be of the opposite gender, and if left untreated, it can lead to significant distress or impairment.
Goldner said figures from the largest study of transgender people carried out in Ireland revealed nearly 80% of trans people had considered suicide, but this dropped to 4% after people began the transition process.
“That’s why this funding is so important, and as far as I know it’s the largest trans-specific funding announcement in Australia to date,” Goldner said.
Dr Michelle Telfer, a paediatrician who heads the Royal Children’s hospital gender dysphoria unit, said the hospital had been calling for the funding for more than two years.
“The number of young people coming forward wanting assistance is increasing exponentially and we have hit the point where we need extra resources,” Telfer said. “The amount of people with gender dysphoria is not increasing, but with a rise in social acceptance, people are feeling comfortable and safe to come forward to ask for help.”
The money would be used to fund more paediatricians and clinical psychologists, and to continue to cover the expense of puberty-blocking medication for patients, which costs $5,000 per patient each year, she said.
In 2013, laws changed so that children under the age of 18 and their families did not have to go through the costly and lengthy process of gaining permission from the family courts to begin stage 1 of treatment, which involves taking puberty-blocking medications.
However, stage 2 of treatment, which involves taking cross hormone treatment, still requires going through the courts if the patient is under the age of 18.
It is something Telfer and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians are lobbying the Australian Human Rights Commission and the family courts to change, because stage 2 treatment works best when administered shortly after stage 1.
“What is happening at the moment is that most adolescents delay starting hormone treatment until they are 18 years of age to avoid going to court,” Telfer said.
“This has serious implications for their mental health including an increased risk of depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicide.”
