MEDIA RELEASE

The State Government must explain why the findings and recommendations of a review into the treatment of 22 children at the Women's and Children's Hospital remain hidden from public scrutiny.

In April 2025, it was revealed that 22 children and adolescents aged between 11 and 18 received gender-related medical treatment without first receiving the psychiatric assessment required under SA Health's Gender Diversity Model of Care.

The Women's and Children's Health Network apologised and conducted an internal review into how the required process was not followed.

My office subsequently lodged a Freedom of Information application in November Last year seeking information relating to that review, including its findings, recommendations, action plans and governance responses.

What we received was fully redacted.

We did not seek the names of the 22 children.

We did not seek the names of their parents or families.

We did not seek private medical records or information that would identify individual patients.

We wanted to know what the review identified about how this happened, what recommendations were made, and what changes have been implemented to prevent it happening again.

There is no suggestion that the privacy of these children should be compromised. Their identities and personal medical information must remain confidential.

But patient privacy should not prevent the Government from explaining, in a de-identified way, what its own review found about the processes and governance surrounding these 22 cases.

The Minister reportedly described what occurred as a "mistake" during an interview on FIVEaa.

If it was a mistake, South Australians are entitled to ask: how did the same required process fail to occur in 22 separate cases?

SA Health has stated that 21 of the patients were subsequently assessed by psychiatrists, their diagnoses were confirmed and no harm was identified. One family declined reassessment.

That does not remove the need to explain how the required process was not followed in the first place.

The Government should release a de-identified version of the review's findings and recommendations, with the names of patients, families and all confidential clinical information removed.

This is not a request for children's private medical information. It is a request for transparency about what went wrong, what the review recommended and what has been done to ensure the required safeguards are followed in the future.

The Minister should tell South Australian parents how many recommendations were made, what action has been taken in response and whether every recommendation has now been implemented.

South Australian families deserve transparency and confidence that the safeguards established to protect children are being followed.