Seven Issues for Consideration: 2025 Federal Election

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InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Picture of Dr Morgan Carpenter speaking at a microphone. He is pale skinned man with short dark hair and wearing glasses. He is wearing a white shirt and tan jacket with a yellow and purple intersex flag lapel pin. Text: "Too often, intersex people are spoken about, not with. Our lives, bodies, and futures are still being shaped by outdated laws, harmful and abusive medical procedures, and misinformation." - Dr Morgan Capenter, Bioethicist & Executive Director of InterAction for Health and Human Rights.
InterAction has invited the major parties to consider the following seven issues that are important.

Major party responses to our election survey:

People with innate variations of sex characteristics (also termed intersex variations or differences of sex development) experience a range of health and social issues in Australia, including incomprehension, stigmatisation and harm.

InterAction for Health and Human Rights is a national Public Benevolent Institution that delivers policy and professional and peer-led psychosocial support services, including through the InterLink psychosocial support program.

As InterAction, we bring together two national charities: Intersex Human Rights Australia and the AIS Support Group Australia/Intersex Peer Support Australia.

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Photo of 3 babies sitting together. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Legislate to protect bodily autonomy and immediately cease medically unnecessary interventions on children without their personal, informed consent. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

1. Bodily autonomy and bodily integrity

Children with innate variations of sex characteristics remain routinely subjected to early elective medical interventions to make their bodies appear and function in ways that are more typically female or male. These are often justified by gender stereotypes and are opposed by psychosocial professional bodies (4). Where they pre-empt individuals’ rights to personally consent to treatment, they are considered harmful practices by community and human rights institutions: in a 2021 report, the Australian Human Rights Commission called for legislative and regulatory reform to ensure freedom from harmful practices (5). The ACT has enacted first legislation to regulate such interventions (6). Victoria has also made a commitment to do the same (7).

The 2024 Australian Department of Health and Aged Care action plan on LGBTIQA+ health and wellbeing states that the government is “working towards” “Supporting LGBTIQA+ people to make their own decisions about their bodies” (8).

Will a government you lead act to ensure that people with innate variations of sex characteristics are able to make their own decisions about their bodies, to the maximum extent possible? Are there any specific actions your government would take?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Photo of the corner of a medicare card- light breen with green and yellow "medicare" logo on it. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Reform Medicare (MBS) codes to give intersex adults access to healthcare and fertility treatment. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

2. Healthcare access

Current MBS codes promote paediatric surgeries while limiting access to healthcare for adults who are able to personally consent (3).

Individuals and families have poor access to knowledgeable services, particularly in regional and remote areas.

Access to fertility treatments is also limited.

Will a government you lead reform MBS codes to promote access to treatment when individuals are able to personally consent? How will the government you lead ensure that equitable access to appropriate and knowledgeable healthcare is available to people with innate variations of sex characteristics across the lifespan?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Photo of a woman and man talking. The woman has white skin, long brown hair and is wearing glasses and a pink top. The man has white skin, short brown hair and beard and is wearing grey. The interLink logo is also shown- the word interLink with the "i's" both in purple with the second i having two interconnecting rings as the dot. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Secure funding for InterLink, the only national psychosocial service program, and safety net for intersex people. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

3. Community-controlled psychosocial support and healthcare

The ACT government has established a paediatric psychosocial support service in the Canberra hospital system to help children and families (9). A key goal is to ensure that children can grow to understand their bodies and freely develop and express their own values and preferences for treatment.

The national InterLink psychosocial support service provides professional and peer-led psychosocial support to individuals and families, including children and adults. It has precarious funding, yet it is a unique service promoting mental health in a stigmatised and misunderstood population.

Will a government you lead ensure ongoing funding for the InterLink psychosocial support service? Will your government help fund us to establish broader medical and allied health services?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Picture of pink and blue heads with question marks. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Remove misinformation from federal guidelines that conflate sex characteristics with gender. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

4. Government misinformation

People with innate variations of sex characteristics are a diverse population, impacted by more than 100 known genes affecting sex development (1). Even in jurisdictions in Australia where third sex/gender markers exist, the evidence available shows that they are not used by parents of children with innate variations, they are used by parents who are expressing particular values and preferences about how they want to raise their children. People with innate variations of sex characteristics can grow up to be women or men, in line with sex registered at birth, or can grow up to be gender diverse. We regard all outcomes as acceptable, seeking respect for our heterogeneity as a population (2,3).

In 2013, updated in 2015, national sex and gender recognition guidelines published by the Attorney General’s Department both recognised diversity in sex/gender markers in our population, but also (wrongly in our view) inserted the terms intersex and indeterminate into a definition of a non-binary gender category, “X” (10). Since this development, we have repeatedly and continuously asked government to change the definition of the third gender to remove references to intersex and indeterminate, perhaps by renaming it “non-binary” to reflect actual needs (for example 11,12).

The gender recognition guidelines are a significant source of misinformation on our population, and this impacts our ability to accurately be counted (for example, in the national census). The guidelines have been superseded but not displaced by better practice in the 2020 Australian Bureau of Statistics Standard on sex, gender, variations of sex characteristics and sexual orientation (13).

Will a government you lead finally act to remove the terms intersex and indeterminate from the definition of a third gender in government guidelines?

Government LGBTIQA+ policies and strategies frequently only address the needs of gender and sexually diverse communities and overlook the distinct needs of persons with innate variations of sex characteristics.

Will a government you lead ensure the distinct needs of persons with innate variations of sex characteristics are addressed in all policy related to LGBTIQA+ people?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Picture of a cup and saucer with a document titled "Best Practice" on a desk. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Amend the Sex Discrimination Act, replacing "intersex status" with "sex characteristics" in line with best practice legislation. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

5. Anti-discrimination legislation

Inappropriate identity and gender-based construction of intersex have limited the utility of legal protections on grounds of “intersex status” in the Sex Discrimination Act. At the same time, we can see increasing stigmatisation and demonisation of our population, indicating a need for meaningful protections (14).

All states and territories (with the exception of Western Australia) have implemented better practice protections on grounds of “sex characteristics”.

Will a government you lead update the Sex Discrimination Act and other legislation to replace protections on grounds of “intersex status” with “sex characteristics”, in line with other Australian jurisdictions?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Picture of some books, a magnifying glass, two chemistry bottles and a pencil container with a group of pens and pencils within it. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Update education curricula to accurately and respectfully reflect information about people with innate variations of sex characteristics. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

6. Education

Individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics, parents and prospective parents often lack accurate information about our bodies and even our existence. This can lead to an inability to effectively manage health and deal with a new diagnosis.

Education can address stigma and improve health outcomes (5).

Will a government you lead reform educational curricula at primary, secondary and tertiary levels to provide accurate human rights-affirming information about innate variations of sex characteristics?

InterAction for Health and Human Rights logo at top with name and purple circle. Image of Australia. Yellow banner with 2025 ELECTION in purple. Picture of a person's eye and eyebrow and cheek. There is a tear rolling from the corner of their eye. Text: What issues are we asking the major political parties to consider in this election? Provide redress for people who experienced harmful early medical interventions when they were too young to consent. Who will support the health and human rights of individuals with innate variations of sex characteristics in Australia? Authorised by Morgan Carpenter, InterAction for Health and Human Rights, The Channon

7. Redress

People who have experienced unnecessary early interventions not only suffer a loss of agency and autonomy, but can also experience a need for lifelong support and access to reparative treatments.

Redress could include support for access to ongoing healthcare and reparative treatments.

Will a government you lead provide redress for individuals subjected to elective life-altering medical interventions to modify sex characteristics without personal informed consent?

About these issues

We have raised these issues for consideration throughout the current Parliament, and in previous elections. Read more:

Election forum

Rainbow Votes Election Forum flyer

We helped to co-organise an election forum, alongside Equality Australia, Health Equity Matters and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia. Joy is the media partner.

Held on 15 April, the event was chaired by Courtney Act and included the Hon Kate Thwaites MP (Labor), Senator Andrew Bragg (Liberal), Stephen Bates MP (Greens) and Allegra Spender MP (Independent). Watch the event video:

References

  1. Délot EC, Vilain E. Towards improved genetic diagnosis of human differences of sex development. Nat Rev Genet. 2021;(22):588–602. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-021-00365-5
  2. InterAction for Health and Human Rights. Theory of Change [Internet]. 2023 Nov [cited 2024 Apr 10]. Available from: https://interaction.org.au/40737/theory-of-change/
  3. Carpenter M. From Harmful Practices and Instrumentalisation, towards Legislative Protections and Community-Owned Healthcare Services: The Context and Goals of the Intersex Movement in Australia. Social Sciences. 2024 Apr;13(4):191. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13040191
  4. Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development Directorate. Draft Legislation To Protect The Rights Of People With Variations In Sex Characteristics In Medical Settings Listening report on submissions received [Internet]. 2022 Aug [cited 2022 Sep 1]. Available from: https://www.cmtedd.act.gov.au/policystrategic/…
  5. Australian Human Rights Commission. Ensuring health and bodily integrity: towards a human rights approach for people born with variations in sex characteristics [Internet]. Sydney, Australia: Australian Human Rights Commission; 2021 [cited 2021 Oct 18]. Available from: https://humanrights.gov.au/intersex-report-2021
  6. ACT Health. Protecting the rights of people with variations in sex characteristics [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Mar 9]. Available from: https://www.act.gov.au/health/…
  7. Department of Health. (i) Am Equal: Future directions for Victoria’s Intersex community [Internet]. 2021 Jul [cited 2021 Jul 12]. Available from: https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/about/publications/factsheets/i-am-equal
  8. Department of Health and Aged Care. National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025-2035 [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2024 Dec 12]. Available from: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/…
  9. Canberra Health Services. Variations in Sex Characteristics Psychosocial Service [Internet]. ACT Health; 2024 [cited 2024 Aug 13]. Available from: https://www.canberrahealthservices.act.gov.au/
    services-and-clinics/…
  10. Attorney General’s Department. Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender (2015) [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Nov 18]. Available from: http://www.ag.gov.au/Publications/…
  11. National LGBTI Health Alliance, A Gender Agenda, Organisation Intersex International Australia, Trans Formative, Transgender Victoria. RE: Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department Review of the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender [Internet]. 2015 [cited 2015 Oct 12]. Available from: https://interaction.org.au/30043/joint-submission-federal-sexgender-guidelines/
  12. Intersex Human Rights Australia and Intersex Peer Support Australia. Call for action by the new government [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2023 Aug 25]. Available from: https://ihra.org.au/39860/call-for-action-2022/
  13. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020 [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2023 Nov 16]. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/…
  14. Carpenter M. Is It Ever OK to Reclassify Someone Out of Their Birth-Observed Sex Without Personal Consent? How Do We Manage Competing Methods of Classifying Sex? The American Journal of Bioethics. 2024 Nov 1;24(11):18–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2024.2399853