Following recent global efforts to protect the human rights of minors with innate variations of sex characteristics (IVSC), The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) passed legislation aimed at regulating ‘normalising’ medical interventions performed on people who are unable to consent.
In the process of consultation during the development process, some argued that alternative options such as clinical self-regulation, orthodox legal constraints such as the need for parental consent, and Family Court interventions were sufficient to protect the interests of minors with IVSC.
This presentation will evaluate these alternatives, and assess the ACT legislation against overseas measures such as the Malta legislation. Relative strengths and weaknesses of different legal and regulatory schemes will be considered. This analysis will generate insights which may inform the process in the Victoria, which is poised to introduce legislation aimed at protecting people with IVSC in a medical setting.