Introduction by Croakey: Health and medical groups are sounding the alarm about the Queensland Government’s recent announcement restricting access to gender-affirming medical treatment, reports this week’s edition of The Zap.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Wiggins, a health policy specialist and CEO of Transcend Australia, writes below that the Queensland developments are part of a gobal trend of governments targeting trans healthcare, and creating unnecessary barriers that put young people at risk.
“These policies are not about patient safety – they are ideological decisions designed to restrict access to care,” Wiggins writes, calling on the Queensland Government to immediately “lift its cruel and unnecessary restrictions”.
Jeremy Wiggins writes:
A 14-year-old was in the middle of a carefully monitored medical treatment plan – one that had taken years of assessments, discussions, and medical oversight.
Then, without warning, the State Government put an immediate “pause” on new gender-affirming hormone therapy prescriptions.
Now, this teenager and hundreds of others like them are left in limbo, unsure of what the future holds for their health and wellbeing.
This is just one example of the stories I’m hearing from Transcend Australia’s clients in Queensland. Families are panicked, clinicians are frustrated, and trans young people – already at significantly higher risk of depression and suicide – are being pushed into crisis.
This is a manufactured emergency, and it must be reversed immediately.
At least 491 trans young people in Queensland have had their medical care stripped away by a political decision with no clinical justification.
The Queensland Government has claimed it is conducting a review, but this move flies in the face of existing evidence, contradicts expert medical consensus, and puts lives at risk.
Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler has announced that the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) will conduct a national review of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents.
This is the rigorous, evidence-based process that will ensure best practice continues to guide trans healthcare in Australia.
Given this, Queensland’s separate investigation is not just unnecessary – it is reckless. There is no justification for delaying care while a national process is now underway.
Queensland must lift its harmful “pause” of hormone therapy for public patients aged under 18, and restore access to treatment immediately.
No alternative to gender-affirming care
There is a dangerous misconception that denying gender-affirming care is a neutral action, that young people can simply “wait and see.”
But we know that withholding care doesn’t stop trans young people from experiencing gender dysphoria – it only forces them into distress and unsafe alternatives.
Some turn to the hidden economy, sourcing hormones online or from unregulated suppliers, taking incorrect doses without medical supervision. Others, unable to cope with their bodies changing in ways that feel intolerable, resort to self-harm and worse.
Research consistently shows that denying trans young people access to gender-affirming care significantly increases rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality.
A 2020 study published in Pediatrics found that access to gender-affirming hormone therapy was associated with a 40 percent reduction in suicide risk for trans adolescents.
A 2022 study in JAMA Network Open confirmed that trans youth who receive gender-affirming care experience lower levels of depression and anxiety compared to those who are denied treatment. These are not abstract numbers – each percentage point represents real lives saved.
Unjustified
The Queensland Government’s justification for pausing treatment – citing administrative concerns in a regional health service – does not stand up to scrutiny.
Queensland already conducted its own review of gender-affirming care in 2024. The 104-page report found that care was being delivered safely and effectively and made 25 key recommendations, including increasing investment and expanding access to care.
Instead of implementing these evidence-based recommendations, the Queensland Government has done the opposite – blocking new treatments and forcing trans young people into crisis.
This is not a good-faith review.
No other healthcare service would be subjected to this level of political interference over administrative concerns.
If a regional diabetes clinic reported process issues, would the government halt all insulin prescriptions for young people? If a mental health service faced resourcing issues, would the state suspend all adolescent antidepressant prescriptions?
The answer is no – because in every other area of medicine, governments trust doctors to deliver care based on evidence and expertise.
Global context
What is happening in Queensland is not occurring in isolation.
Across the world, governments are targeting trans healthcare, creating unnecessary barriers that put young people at risk.
In the United States, nearly half of all states have introduced or passed laws banning gender-affirming care, criminalising doctors and forcing families to uproot their lives to seek treatment in other states.
In the United Kingdom, the National Health Service (NHS) has severely restricted access to puberty blockers, despite overwhelming evidence supporting their safety and efficacy.
These policies are not about patient safety – they are ideological decisions designed to restrict access to care.
Australia has long taken a different path, prioritising medical expertise over political ideology.
The Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines (ASOCTG) were developed to ensure trans and gender-diverse young people receive the highest quality care possible. These guidelines were developed through extensive consultation, drawing on empirical research, clinician consensus, and the expertise of professionals from across Australia and New Zealand.
They are endorsed by the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH), and referenced by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), and the Australian Psychological Society (APS).
By ignoring this expert consensus and imposing its own politically motivated review, Queensland is undermining decades of clinical research and best-practice healthcare.
National leadership
In contrast to Queensland’s actions, the Federal Government is taking the right approach by commissioning the NHMRC review.
The public consultation process for the NHMRC review will be structured and guided by established processes, ensuring that feedback is considered within a rigorous, evidence-based framework – this is not an open-ended referendum on trans rights, but a carefully managed opportunity for informed input.
This is the appropriate process for updating and strengthening national guidelines, ensuring Australian healthcare remains aligned with the latest scientific evidence.
If the Queensland Government genuinely cared about improving gender-affirming care, they would engage with this process – not run their own unnecessary review while young people suffer.
What needs to happen next
This is not a debate. Trans young people exist. They deserve access to the same high quality, evidence-based healthcare as anyone else.
Every day that this “pause” remains in place, more young people will suffer. Some will fall into mental health crises. Others will take matters into their own hands, accessing unsafe treatments or making irreversible decisions out of desperation.
Queensland must lift its cruel and unnecessary restrictions immediately.
If the Queensland Government is truly concerned about trans healthcare, it should invest in services, strengthen clinical support, and engage with the NHMRC review, not force young people into suffering for the sake of politics.
Transcend Australia, LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, AusPATH, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, Australian Medical Association, Queensland Mental Health Commission and Queensland Human Rights Commission are just some of the many voices calling for the immediate restoration of care.
Every child deserves access to the healthcare they need to grow up safe, healthy, and supported.
This is not a political debate – it is a fundamental human right. The Queensland Government must act now.
Author details
Jeremy Wiggins, CEO of Transcend Australia, is a health policy specialist with extensive experience advocating for trans and gender-diverse people’s access to safe and inclusive healthcare. He has worked across research, policy, and service delivery to improve gender-affirming care in Australia.
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