Queensland based psychiatrist Dr Jullian Spencer has failed in her bid to become the next president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.
The psychiatrist who has become a vocal opponent of the affirmation model of treatment of gender dysphoria ran on a platform calling for a change to the professional body’s approach to the issue.
Dr Spencer was stood down from her position as a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Queensland Children’s Hospital in 2023. She subsequently filed a human rights complaint against her employer.
Dr Angelo Virgona was successfully elected to the position of RANZCP President-Elect 2025-2027.
Dr Virgona has been a psychiatrist since 1990 and has straddled many clinical and administrative roles across settings in a peripatetic career from inner city, outer metropolitan, rural, private, public. He has previously served as the President of the New South Wales branch of the professional body.
In a social media post Dr Spencer voiced her disappointment that 75% of those who voted opted for a candidate who supported the affirmative care model.
“Seventy-five per cent of psychiatrists voted for a candidate that has no interest in getting the college to call for a cessation of gender interventions for children, and 48% of psychiatrists across Australian and New Zealand voted.” Dr Spencer said.
Dr Spencer said the lack of support for her candidacy showed that the majority of psychiatrists in Australia were not operating from a “scientific or ethical base”. She accused them of being influence by the “transgender political movement.”
The medical professional ended her post by saying she would be heading off to watch the movie The Invasion of the Body Snatchers as a means of catharsis. The 1956 sci-fi film tells the story of an alien invasion who replace members of society with doppelgangers, it was remade in 1978.
Update: 6-04-25 12:55 The initial publication of this article incorrectly listed the dates of Dr Virgona’s term.
