WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Anthony Albanese has promised to make child gender reassignment surgery available for bulk billing.
OUR VERDICT
False. There is no evidence the prime minister has made such a pledge.
AAP FACTCHECK - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not promised $10 million in funding for bulk-billing gender reassignment surgery for children, despite claims on social media.
The election promise being referred to online is aimed at improving primary healthcare for LGBTQI people and does not mention the terms "bulk-billing" or "gender reassignment."
AAP FactCheck found no evidence that Mr Albanese or Labor had made any of the alleged promises ahead of the May 3 election.
The claim appears in multiple Facebook posts sharing a screenshot of an X post.
"Anthony Albanese has promised bulk billing gender reassignment surgery for children as young as 8 years old. You can bulk bill puberty blockers too."
The post continues: "And he's making it so the child's school teacher can approve it, without parents consent or knowledge.
"He was quoted saying 'It's a child's right to live how they want and be who they want'
"He's allocated 10 million to make it happen."
The X post includes a screenshot of a Guardian Australia article published on April 14, 2025, titled: "Labor announces $10m to provide 'inclusive, culturally safe' healthcare for LGBTQ+ Australians".
The media release cited in the article promises $10 million "to strengthen Medicare for LGBTIQA+ Australians by improving their access to inclusive, culturally safe primary care".
However, neither the article nor the release from Health Minister Mark Butler mentions "bulk billing", children or surgical procedures.
Also known as gender affirming procedures, surgery can include mastectomy, vaginoplasty and phalloplasty, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
Rather, the press release and the article explain that the funding is to train doctors and nurses to provide "inclusive, culturally safe primary care" to LGBTQI patients and to develop a voluntary accreditation program.
The funding builds on Labor's National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People, which also does not contain any proposals related to gender reassignment surgery, puberty blockers or parental consent.
Separately, in January 2025, Mr Butler commissioned the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to review the standards of care and treatment guidelines for transgender and gender-diverse young people and to develop new guidelines.
However, changes to bulk-billing and consent protocols are not within the NHMRC's scope.
There is also no public record of Mr Albanese making any pledges about bulk-billing "gender reassignment" or "puberty blockers" or even mentioning those terms during the election campaign.
Labor's 2023 National Platform does not outline such plans either, nor does it mention those terms.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked claims about transgender policies and the election.
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