Gender Diversity

Children and adolescents who are gender diverse are part of the spectrum of human diversity. Those who are gender diverse may experience Gender Dysphoria, which is characterised as distress arising from the incongruence between a person’s gender identity and their assigned and/or presumed gender at birth.

The Women's and Children's Hospital Gender Diversity medical support and mental health teams aim to improve the health, wellbeing and function of gender diverse South Australian children and young people.

The Gender Diversity Multidisciplinary Team works together with the child or young person and their family to provide individualised care that is aligned with the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents.

Our mental health team offers initial consultation, ongoing mental health support as required and psychiatry assessment and opinion for medical management.

Our medical support team provide medical management for young people following a referral from a gender-trained specialist psychiatry opinion; and offers specialised fertility support. The team also support the treatment administration for young people seeking puberty suppression and gender affirming hormones.

All appointments are held at Women’s and Children’s Hospital, North Adelaide.

The Gender Diversity Team will accept new referrals from General Practitioners, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and Mental Health Professionals across South Australia for any child or young person up to the age of 17 years with concerns regarding their gender identity.

A written referral should be sent to the Gender Diversity Team at CAMHS Consultation Liaison Service:

• Fax: (08) 8161 7032
• Email: health.wchdpm@sa.gov.au

Please complete in full the referral form below and ensure that the referral includes specific details of who to contact (e.g. young person or parent) to arrange appointments.

• Adolescents who are under 16, or who lack decision-making capacity, require a parent/legal guardian to be aware of the appointment and to attend with them.
• The referrer will be sent a letter once the referral has been received and accepted. Please contact your referrer in the first instance for updates regarding your referral.
• Please be aware that there is high demand for this service, and there may be some delay between acceptance of the referral and initial consultation. Please continue to see your referrer regularly whilst waiting for your appointment.

Appointments are held in CAMHS Consultation Liaison (formerly Department of Psychological Medicine)

Level 1 Zone C
Women's and Children's Hospital

CAMHS Consultation Liaison

• Phone: (08) 8161 7227
• Email: health.wchdpm@sa.gov.au

Appointments are held in Paediatric Outpatients Department.

Level 1 Zone A
Women's and Children's Hospital

Gender Diversity Medical Nurse Consultant

• Phone: (08) 8161 8752 (normally out of the office Tuesdays)
• Email: Health.WCHGDClinicNurse@sa.gov.au

This service is not an acute mental health or crisis service. If you have immediate concerns about your child’s mental wellbeing, you can contact the following:

• WCH 24-hour Emergency Mental Health Nurse (via switch board 8161 7000)
• Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
• Lifeline: 13 11 14