The Australian Medical Association (AMA) passed a motion at its National Conference that calls for a deferral of non-urgent medical and surgical interventions for intersex people until they – themselves – can give consent.
Recognizing that the surgical interventions may be unnecessary and harmful to intersex people, AMA noted that innate variations of sex characteristics are “natural variations in humans”.
This motion will now proceed to the AMA’s Federal Council.
If/when passed, this will be aligned with the stance of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), which has pushed for the initiative since 2018.
In March 2023, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) introduced the country’s first laws protecting intersex people from these medical procedures, thereby granting them autonomy to decide what happens to their own bodies.
