The mother of a 13-year-old girl with gender dysphoria is seeking to remove an independent children’s lawyer who has opposed her ongoing medical treatment, a Melbourne court has heard.
The girl, who the court heard was self-harming and threatening suicide, is being treated at a Melbourne hospital.
Hospital policy prevents the treatment from continuing unless a family court order is obtained, or the girl’s father – who has no involvement with the child – provides consent, barrister Robin Smith, for the mother, told the court on Thursday.
Smith told the court the hospital recommended the treatment for the girl, who cannot be named, as she had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
The girl was born male but “socially transitioned” at the age of four, the court heard.
But a barrister representing Susan Hamilton-Green, who is the court appointed independent children’s lawyer, said that it was important the court consider “the risks and the advantages” of the treatment and that “the science isn’t settled” before making the order.
Smith, acting for the child’s mother, asked Justice Alice Carter to make several orders, including that Hamilton-Green be removed as the independent children’s lawyer and that the mother be allowed to continue the girl’s treatment and change her name.
Smith said Hamilton-Green had provided little detail about why she opposed the orders. He asked “how on earth” she believed she was acting in the best interests of the child, given “this child is suicidal, is self-harming, and is wanting the treatment”.
“The longer these proceedings go on … the more anxiety it causes the child, the more anxiety it causes her only parent,” Smith said.
The girl’s father had not opposed the treatment, but failed to meet with the mother after she arranged to see him so he could sign the consent forms, Smith said.
There were no parenting orders in place and the father had no involvement with the girl for more than a decade, Smith said.
He said that the mother was already legally allowed to consent to the medical treatment sought by her daughter, but simply needed the court order for it to occur because of hospital policy. Smith said that because Hamilton-Green had opposed the application, it would now have to go to an unnecessary, expensive and onerous trial.
Smith said the mother was being “put through the ringer of litigation”, including being the subject of an application for costs of almost $3,000 by Hamilton-Green should her application before the court on Thursday fail.
“We should let her parent,” he said.
“In 1974, Gough Whitlam created this court to be a helping court. With the greatest respect, it doesn’t feel like we’d be helping this mother or this child if we allowed this matter to proceed.”
Lane, Hamilton-Green’s barrister, said the expert evidence before the court showed there was a range of views about whether the medical treatment sought could have an ongoing impact on the girl’s future fertility, future sexual function, brain development and bone density.
Lane said the “science had somewhat moved on” to that considered in other relevant cases previously before the courts, and noted that a Melbourne hospital had started a study on the effect of puberty blockers on cognitive function.
The exact nature of the treatment sought by the girl was not mentioned during Thursday’s hearing.
Lane said there were also concerns among some of the experts regarding the girl’s cognitive development and whether the mother had informed consent about the treatment.
Of the application for Hamilton-Green to be removed as the independent children’s lawyer, Lane said that “to the extent that there is an attempt to say she has not acted in a child’s best interests, there are different interests at play, [and] sometimes those interests are competing”.
Carter said she was “not minded” to make the orders sought by Smith removing Hamilton-Green as the girl’s independent children’s lawyer, but said she would make her decision at a later date.
• This article was amended on 20 July 2023 because an earlier version referred to gender dysmorphia. This has been corrected to gender dysphoria.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
