Advocates say the move is a decisive step towards respecting intersex people’s bodily autonomy and rights.

The AMA has thrown its weight behind ending all unnecessary medical interventions on intersex Australians, with delegates at its recent national conference voting unanimously to back a landmark motion on patient consent and human rights.

Rural WA GP Dr Thomas Drake-Brockman made the motion in a bid to recognise the innate variations of sex characteristics and defer non-urgent interventions for whose who cannot give personal and informed consent.

This motion was passed with unanimous support from the conference and is expected to advance to the Federal Council.

Dr Drake-Brockman said the motion could be “expected to drive significant policy and advocacy work across the AMA” if it was passed by the council.

“Recognising this harm is the first step,” they said.

“Next we must call for legislated protections, guidelines founded in lived-experience and evidence, and the social progress towards a future where we are all accepted in all our similarities and differences and live our full and best lives.”

The move has been welcomed by many advocates who have noted that it aligned with the AMA’s previous statements of support for the intersex community.

It also falls into line with the position of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), which has pushed for the initiative since 2018.

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“The RANZCP is concerned that sex reassignment decisions may be made with an overly narrow frame,” the RANZCP said in 2018.

“Primum non nocere – do no harm – is central to medical ethics and carries with it powerful and longitudinal meaning for this group.

“Therefore, the RANZCP supports the deferral of sex assignment treatment decisions which have irreversible consequences until the person can provide informed consent, except in cases of medical necessity.”

Advocates in the space are now eager to see what happens with the call once it reaches the council.

“In terms of community expectations, obviously within intersex community spaces, there’s a lot of real excitement and relief,” Associate Professor at Sydney Health Ethics Morgan Carpenter told The Medical Republic.

“This is a peak national organisation taking a very clear approach to meeting the health and wellbeing needs of our population in a way that respects the human rights of children.

“We know that that in every jurisdiction in Australia, infants and children with innate variations of sex characteristics are still subjected to unnecessary medical intervention to make their bodies fit normative ideas about what girls and boys should look like and function like.”

Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo has also called upon the relevant specialist colleges to get involved with the initiative to progress policy on optimal intersex care.

“What we are trying to promote about transgender and intersex health care, is really about embracing the idea of patient centeredness,” the past Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) president told TMR.

“So strengthening the intersex and trans community, it’s really about working with them on how to actually embrace patient centeredness within their care.”