Posts misuse Australian news report to misrepresent Labor Party election promise

Published on April 25, 2025 at 10:16
2 min read
By Ara Eugenio, AFP Australia

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's government has not promised to include gender reassignment surgery and puberty blockers for minors in the country's national health insurance scheme, contrary to claims shared on social media ahead of the May 3 elections. The posts misrepresent an article in The Guardian about the ruling Labor Party pledging to train healthcare workers to make gender-affirming care more accessible and safe for gay, lesbian and gender-diverse Australians if re-elected.

"Anthony Albanese has promised bulk billing gender reassignment surgery for children as young as 8 years old," reads an April 16 X post shared more than 1,000 times.

Bulk billing is a payment system under Australia's public health insurance scheme Medicare, where patients receive medical services billed directly to the government, provided they are enrolled and that the health care provider accepts it (archived link).

"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."

The post features a screenshot of the headline to an article by The Guardian that states Albanese's ruling centre-left Labor Party has pledged 10 million Australian dollars ($6.36 million) for "inclusive, culturally safe healthcare for LGBTQ+ Australians".

Screenshot of the false X post, captured on April 24, 2025

Similar posts circulated across social media ahead of Australia's tightly contested May 3 national elections that pit the left-leaning Albanese against staunchly conservative rival Peter Dutton (archived link).

"This is one sick policy from @AlboMP and should not be tolerated," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said: "It is not the right of a teacher to approve any medical treatment for a child, that is the parents right."

The Guardian article, however, has been misrepresented.

Keyword searches on Google found the paper published the full story on April 13, with a sub-headline that reads: "Exclusive: Funding would go towards third-party training for doctors and nurses, which advocates say would remove barriers to treatment" (archived link).

The article details Health Minister Mark Butler's election promise of a 10-million Australian dollar package that would fund the upskilling of healthcare workers and the introduction of a voluntary accreditation program designed to provide "inclusive, culturally safe primary care" for LGBTQ+ Australians.

There is no mention of gender reassignment surgery, puberty blockers, school approval of medical decisions for minors, or that bulk billing will be applicable for such services.

Screenshot of The Guardian's article with key details highlighted by AFP

Covering the cost of gender reassignment surgery and puberty blockers for children is not listed among proposed amendments to Medicare on the Labor Party's website, as of April 25 (archived link).

AFP previously debunked a similar claim Labor and the Greens had pledged to fund gender-affirming procedures under Medicare.

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