http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/court-gave-teen-the-right-to-change-gender-from-boy-to-girl-20100305-popg.html

''Bernadette'' was born a boy in 1992 but began showing signs of female ''behaviour, preferences and traits'' from the age of three.

A judge in NSW gave Bernadette, supported by her parents, permission to have hormone treatment that would suppress the onset of puberty and - later - administer oestrogen.

The order was made in late 2007, when Bernadette was about 14, but the reasons were not published on the Family Court's website until this week. The order said she could commence treatment in January 2008.

A psychiatrist believed she met the criteria for gender identity disorder. She said if the teenager did not receive the treatment there was the possibility she could harm herself.

The judge accepted that a person's sexual identity was determined by their ''brain sex'', not their genitalia.

right here in NSW

I can never figure out if Australia is politically backwards or cutting edge.

In terms of being able to change your gender in Australia all states and territories have legislation that allows you to apply for a gender recognition certificate or birth certificate, which then allows you to change your gender marker on your documents once you have had surgery, some states allow for additional circumstances.

NSW allows people not born in that state, to apply and two other states allow people to apply if they have surgery in those states.  So, yes, Australia is in the forefront in protecting and considering transgendered people (discrimination and equal opportunity laws) and the NSW court case adds further evidence.

Is Australia backward? yes, because it is the only western country that does not have a bill of rights.

So Australia is half and half on "backwards and cutting edge."

Kind regards
Sarah B

I love Aussie! :]

they are cutting edge in a lot of ways but its hard to tell on some things. For instance in Australia marriage is legally defined as between a man and a woman. However, they recognize a legal defacto relationship between any domestic partners regardless of gender that carries many of the same legal rights as marriage, including the "right" to be taxed as a married couple lol

  Courts to have final say on sex changes
JOEL GIBSON
March 7, 2010

http://www.smh.com.au/national/courts-to-have-final-say-on-sex-changes-20100306-pppj.html

TRANSSEXUALISM cannot be called a normal factor of human development, the Family Court has determined, and parents who want their children treated for it will have to continue to seek legal permission.

Since 2004, the treatment has been placed in the same legal category as organ removal or sterilisation and requires a court order.

The court allowed "Bernadette", born a boy, to have hormone treatment before puberty in 2007. Bernadette's parents then launched a test case asking for other parents to be allowed to authorise the treatment without going to court.

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Aussie judge allows hormone treatment for 14-yr-old
Posted in: International Daily News
By GayNZ.com Daily News Staff - 7th March 2010

http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/3/article_8572.php

A Family Court judge in New South Wales has ruled that a 14-year-old born male can start hormone treatments to begin transitioning to become psychically female.

'Bernadette' was born a boy but had shown female traits since the age of three, reports The Age.

Psychiatric workers believed she met the criteria for gender identity disorder, and gave the OK for her to begin hormone treatment to delay the onset of puberty. Later, oestrogen treatments can be administered.

Thanks Zythyra. I had also seen the follow up story about the test case in the Sydney Morning Herald. It seems Aussies are not as cutting edge as some of us would like.

Link to pdf of court document

It makes me feel very lucky to have snuck in before they started requiring court nonsense for kids to get started. I had no idea that things had moved backwards here, although maybe it's only in NSW?

I think if newspapers started reporting on me when I was going through this, it would have destroyed me. She is transitioning in highschool, like she really needs to be gossiped about on an even bigger scale...