Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee, , 2:37:32 to 2:39:37
AHPRA clarifies the status of its LGBTQIA+ equity and inclusion strategy and explains that setting clinical standards for gender-affirming care is outside its regulatory remit.
Topics: Health, Human rights
Speakers: Justin Untersteiner, Senator Malcolm Roberts, Prof Anthony Lawler, Ellie Whiteaker
on notice 2602815. So the answers are there.
Right, could I have ARPRA please? I have a number of questions, but I've trunk getting them to comply with the the chair's requirement for uh quick uh transition. Um we've looked through APRA's APRA's good medical practice, and it doesn't mention gender-affirming care. Yet I understand that ARPRA are developing or have developed your first LGBTQIA plus equity and inclusion strategy for your regulatory scheme. Is that correct?
Uh uh no uh Senator, it's not. It's um uh to give context here. Um before my time in 2024, I believe, uh there was work undertaken to develop uh such um work, uh, and that included volunteers of our organisation, um, including members of the LGBTQIA plus community to look at issues such as uh uh uh safety and access for our staff, uh as well as looking at where we might have barriers uh more broadly in a scheme that would prevent the LGBTQIA plus community from being able to access our services that all community members should be able to access. As I understand it, that work was um it was paused due to other organisational priorities at the time uh and didn't proceed in saying that. Um I can say as the CEO of ARPRA that I would like to recommend to that group at some point. I think it's uh important work that we undertake, uh, but at this stage uh there isn't a strategy or any actions from it.
So you're currently just for clarity, thank you. You you're currently not developing or do not have a gender transgender standard of care.
I know, and I should flag that that isn't our role. Um so again, our role is to regulate health practitioners and their conduct against codes of conduct. Uh it is not to set the guidelines as it applies to gender affirming care.
Okay, thank you very much for that.
One more question, Senator Rolls.