CASC Gender Healthcare Summit Examines the Challenges of Gender Medicine
The Coalition Advancing Scientific Care (CASC) Gender Healthcare Summit took place in Adelaide on Saturday, 10th October 2026. LGB Alliance Australia attended to represent lesbian and gay people, many of whom have been personally affected by gender-affirming care.
Clinicians, parents, lawyers and academics examined the challenges posed by gender-affirming medicine. This year’s summit placed particular emphasis on the role of families in supporting young people distressed about their sex, the ethical issues surrounding gender treatments as a branch of medicine, and the potential legal accountability of clinics. The disproportionate impact of gender medicine on same-sex-attracted young people was also discussed.
Keynote speakers included international experts such as Genspect founder Dr Stella O’Malley, neuropsychologist Professor Sallie Baxendale, and former Tavistock whistleblowers Marcus and Sue Evans. They were joined by Australian legal experts, including Emeritus Professor of Law Patrick Parkinson and family law barrister Belle Lane, as well as clinical psychologist and expert witness Dr Vanessa Spiller, among others.
A central theme emerging from the summit was the potential for the courts to curb gender medicine and bring greater scrutiny to practices in gender clinics across the country. Dr Spiller, who has given evidence in several Family Court cases, noted that litigation can force rigorous scrutiny of clinical claims that gender clinics might otherwise avoid. In Re: Devin (2025), Justice Andrew Strum refused to authorise puberty blockers for a 12-year-old and made strongly critical findings about the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne gender clinic, rejecting its claim to be the “gold standard”.
Professor Parkinson explored whether negligence actions and pressure from insurers could encourage greater accountability in the field, while cautioning that lasting change must also come from the medical profession and government.
Speakers also raised concerns about consent requirements for treatments that can cause sterilisation, noting that both parents’ consent or court approval may be required, yet some clinicians reportedly proceed on the agreement of only one parent.
The summit further highlighted the over-representation of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people among gender clinic referrals. Over the years, LGB Alliance Australia has consistently highlighted that many gender-nonconforming children would otherwise grow up to identify as gay or lesbian are increasingly being directed towards medical pathways that include sterility and loss of sexual function – it is a new form of conversion practice.
The program included the following speakers and themes:
Marcus Evans: Identity and the Foundational Myth.
Susan Evans: A Brief Assessment Model for Gender Identity Issues Arising Within the Family.
Professor Sallie Baxendale: The Teenage Brain and Decision Making: A Neurodevelopmental Perspective on Informed Consent.
Adjunct Professor Karleen Gribble: Sex & Desexed Language and Data Collection.
Drew Hutton and Dr Rachel Hannam: How Progressive Movements Shaped Interpretation and Treatment of Gender Distress.
Dr Stella O'Malley: Medical Transition is a Failed Intervention.
Emeritus Professor Patrick Parkinson and Belle Lane: Will There be a Flood of Litigation Against Gender Clinicians?
The Friday evening program featured two discussions:
Mum, Dad; I've got something to tell you... A panel on practical support for parents, featuring Dr Stella O'Malley, Dr Vanessa Spiller and a representative from PAGD Victoria.
Navigating Conflict of Rights, featuring Dr Stella O'Malley and Associate Professor Holly Lawford-Smith.
The summit also included networking sessions covering clinical practice, parenting, advocacy, legal issues and education.
For more information go to CASC website: https://www.casc.ltd/2026-event