Last Friday, HRLA client and child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer reached a significant milestone in her legal challenge against the Queensland Children’s Hospital and its gender affirmation policies.

The Queensland Industrial Relations Commission facilitated a conciliation between Dr Spencer and Queensland Children’s Hospital, along with their lawyers, to explore the possibility of resolving her claim amicably.

Dr Spencer is arguing that the hospital’s policies violate her conscience and compel medical practitioners to take a politicised approach which is harming vulnerable children.

The hospital has tried to compel Dr Spencer to automatically affirm the identity of children with gender confusion, including by using “preferred pronouns” and keep all clinical records according to a patient’s preferred gender identity. Dr Spencer is open about preferring a more cautious and holistic approach.

While the details of the conciliation are confidential, it was productive and was paused to allow both parties to continue their discussions.

Dr Spencer is hopeful that a mutually beneficial solution can be reached with the hospital, one that upholds the clinical freedom of doctors and protects vulnerable children from irreversible harm.

Dr Spencer is a courageous medical professional with decades of experience in her chosen field, and HRLA is proud to represent her in this crucial case, with the support of expert legal counsel in Brisbane.

Following the conciliation last Friday, Dr Spencer provided the following statement to the media:

“There’s two things I’m fighting for with this case. The first is that I believe it’s wrong for the hospital to force me to affirm the gender identities of children with gender distress. As a psychiatrist, I need to use my knowledge and clinical skills to be able to decide on the right treatment approach for my patient. And the gender affirmation model isn’t safe and it isn’t evidence based.

The other thing I’m fighting for is that I believe that employers shouldn’t be able to discriminate against employees who believe in biological reality. No one should get fired or disciplined for believing that people can’t change sex.”

HRLA works on behalf of all Australians to ensure that freedom of speech, religion, and conscience is protected.