The Professional Association for Transgender Health (PATHA) welcomes the news this week that Statistics New Zealand will move beyond a binary (male or female only) gender question in the Household Economic Survey. The organisation also supports Statistics New Zealand’s decision to include a question about sex assigned at birth, to be able to count the transgender population.

“This is long overdue”, said Dr Jaimie Veale, PATHA President and Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Waikato. “Transgender people have been telling Statistics New Zealand for a long time that they need to see themselves represented in our population data. These questions reflect international standards for best practice, and the data we collect using these questions will be crucial for us to understand the size of the transgender population, demand for services, as well as the health social inequities that transgender people face. Accurate data is necessary for us to inform policy and law changes”, she said.

“My understanding is Stats NZ is still working out what might be the best and most effective ways of collecting information about rainbow populations, including population measures for intersex and transgender people, and we welcome their progress towards robust data about and for our communities”, said Joey Macdonald, PATHA Secretary.

PATHA was formed at a meeting of over 70 health professionals and people working to promote transgender people’s health at the Aotearoa New Zealand Trans Health Symposium on May 4th 2019, to provide networking, education, and advocacy for this group.

On the 9th May 2019, the New Zealand Companies Office accepted our application to register the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa Incorporated.

The societies number is 2735252.

As per the rules of the society, the first AGM of the organisation will be held between the 1st April and 30th June 2020. In the interim, the inaugural Executive Committee, selected at the 4th May 2019 meeting, will govern the organisation. The inaugural Executive Committee includes:

• Dr Jaimie Veale (President)

• Dr Jeannie Oliphant (Vice President)

• Joey Macdonald (Secretary)

• Duncan Matthews (Treasurer)

• Jesse Porter

• Dr Rachel Johnson

• Jemima Bullock

Delegates at the country’s first ever Trans Health Symposium voted unanimously to create the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa.

The inaugural President of PATHA is Dr Jaimie Veale, who is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Waikato.

Over 200 hundred health professionals and members of transgender communities attended the event at the University of Waikato. The level of interest in the Symposium went far beyond organisers’ expectations, requiring them to move it to a larger venue in the weeks before registrations closed.

The event included overviews of two large University of Waikato research projects: the Honour Project Aotearoa and the Counting Ourselves survey. Other presentations focused on ways to address barriers to gender affirming care and mental health support around the Aotearoa, including through Māori and Pasifika community-led health initiatives (FINE and Gender Minorities Aotearoa), and by working with children, youth and their whānau.

Invited speakers included Dr Ruth Pearce from the UK, who presented research on pregnancy among transgender people and Dr Rita Yang who discussed surgical pathways in New Zealand.

Publication of a new transgender health guideline for New Zealand was celebrated. “This guideline provides clear recommendations to District Health Boards about the gender affirming healthcare services that should be provided locally for transgender people”, said lead author, Dr Jeannie Oliphant.

A panel discussion involving clinicians representing 13 different District Health Boards  revealed a concerning lack of equity in the healthcare services available across New Zealand. “Currently only the Auckland DHBs provide publicly available information regarding local service provision”, noted Dr Oliphant, “there is an urgent need for other DHBs to provide clear pathways for consumers wanting to access gender affirming healthcare regionally”.

Over 70 delegates voting to establish the new Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA). “This organisation was formed to provide education, networking, and collaboration for everyone working professionally to advance the health of transgender people in Aotearoa”, said inaugural PATHA President, Dr Jaimie Veale.