Family First renews commitment to fight to close child gender clinics after fresh scandal involving ACON-backed facility
Media Release/Family First Party
Family First National Director and NSW Legislative Council candidate Lyle Shelton has renewed the party’s commitment to fight to close child gender clinics.
This follows explosive allegations that a Sydney gender clinic linked to powerful LGBTQA+ lobby group ACON has been withholding critical health risk information from patients and their families.
A report in The Australian today revealed complaints have been lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency alleging that Sydney’s Kaleido Health Centre has systematically failed to disclose serious risks associated with so-called “gender-affirming” medical interventions, including infertility, blood clots, cardiovascular disease and irreversible physical changes.
Mr Shelton said the allegations reinforced why Family First has pledged to fight to shut down child gender clinics and end the medicalisation of gender-confused children if elected to the NSW Parliament next March.
“Parents should be outraged that children are being funnelled towards life-altering medical interventions while critical information about the risks is allegedly being hidden from public view,” Mr Shelton said.
“The idea that vulnerable children can give informed consent to treatments that may leave them permanently infertile and dependent on lifelong medical interventions is deeply troubling.
“Family First will fight to close NSW child gender clinics and replace them with a genuinely evidence-based approach that provides compassionate psychological support for children experiencing gender distress.”
Mr Shelton said the allegations against Kaleido were particularly concerning because the clinic operates under the umbrella of ACON, one of Australia’s most influential and radical LGBTQ advocacy organisations, which receives substantial taxpayer funding and enjoys extensive influence within government agencies and public institutions.
“The fact that the nation’s medical and consumer regulators have formal partnerships and relationships with ACON raises legitimate questions about conflicts of interest and whether proper scrutiny is occurring,” he said.
“The UK’s Cass Review exposed the weak evidence base underpinning the medical transition of children and led to major policy changes in Britain. Yet Australian authorities continue to ignore mounting international evidence while vulnerable children are subjected to experimental treatments.”
Mr Shelton said Family First would seek to establish an independent inquiry into gender medicine practices in NSW and immediately fight to halt the prescription of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical referrals for minors.
“Children struggling with their identity deserve care, counselling and support, not irreversible medical interventions driven by activist ideology,” he said.
“Both Labor and the Liberals have failed to protect children from this scandal. Family First will put the welfare of children ahead of the demands of powerful lobby groups.
“The revelations about Kaleido should be a wake-up call. The community deserves answers about how many children have been treated, what information they were given and whether proper safeguards were followed.
- “No child should be subjected to irreversible medical procedures before they are old enough to fully understand the lifelong consequences.”
