| الملخص: | Clinical and legal regulation of consent to medical treatment for trans youth, both
binary and non-binary, is complex as well as controversial. In this article, we outline the
clinical context in which consent is sought for gender-affirming medical treatment of
trans youth in Australia and in England and Wales. Then, informed by an understanding
of the developing evidence base behind early gender-affirming treatment, the lived
experience of trans young people, and a developmental approach to capacity in
decision-making regarding medical treatment, this article goes on to consider the
justifiability of current legal regulation in this area. First, this article examines general
principles in relation to consent for children’s medical care, then charts the development
of those principles through key cases that have shaped this particular area of law in
Australia, England and Wales. These developments are then synthesised and compared
in respect of the extent to which they promote or impede autonomous decision-making in
the respective jurisdictions. We identify decisive similarities and differences between the
jurisdictions, along with the likely practical implications for trans youth, their families,
and treating doctors. Our analysis adds further weight to the growing consensus
spanning the judiciary, doctors, legal scholars, and interest groups, that the law in
Australia should be reformed to reduce unnecessary and harmful barriers to treatment
for all trans youth.
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