Queenslanders are being encouraged to sign a new parliamentary e-petition calling on the state government to restore access to gender-affirming healthcare for transgender children and teenagers.
The petition argues that decisions about young people’s healthcare should be made by patients, families and qualified medical professionals rather than politicians.
“Your petitioners believe gender affirming care saves lives,” it states, before asking the Legislative Assembly to “do all in its power to reinstate gender affirming care for trans kids”.
Posted on 15 July, the petition had collected more than 850 signatures by 27 July. It is open only to Queensland citizens and will close on 15 January 2027.
New Patients Have Been Blocked for 18 Months
New transgender and gender-diverse patients aged under 18 have been unable to begin puberty blockers or gender-affirming hormone treatment through Queensland’s public health system since 28 January 2025.
The current ministerial direction prevents all public Hospital and Health Services from providing Stage 1 treatment, commonly known as puberty blockers, or Stage 2 gender-affirming hormone treatment to new patients diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Young people who had already begun either treatment before the original restriction took effect are permitted to continue receiving it when clinically indicated. Puberty blockers and hormones can also still be prescribed to minors for medical conditions unrelated to gender dysphoria.
The petition was initiated by Rimas Hardwick-Bagdonas and sponsored by Greenslopes MP Joe Kelly.
“Young Queenslanders’ healthcare options should be determined in consultation with their doctor and medical professionals,” Kelly told QNews.
“The Government should be listening to doctors, health professionals and patients before ruling out any accepted medical treatments, not acting on ideology without any consultation, like they have on gender-affirming care.”
Kelly accused Premier David Crisafulli’s LNP government of repeatedly disregarding expert advice on public-health policy.
“After scrapping pill-testing and lagging on vaccine rollouts, this is another example where the Crisafulli LNP Government have ignored experts, once again putting ideology ahead of evidence and Queenslanders suffer because of this.”
Government Extended Restriction Beyond Its Review
Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced the original “pause” in January 2025 while the government commissioned an independent review of hormone treatment for children and adolescents.
“The review will encourage the participation of clinicians and professionals with relevant expertise, as well as young people with lived experience and their families,” Nicholls said at the time.
“While this review is taking place, there is a need to maintain confidence in the public health services. A binding health service directive will immediately pause the prescription of stage one and stage two hormone therapies to new patients in Queensland Health facilities.”
The original directive was overturned by the Queensland Supreme Court in October 2025 after the court found the decision-making process was unlawful. The ruling addressed how the directive was issued rather than determining the medical merits of gender-affirming treatment.
Nicholls issued a new ministerial direction later that day, restoring substantially the same restrictions. The amended direction remains in force and is scheduled to be reviewed by 28 January 2032.
After receiving the independent review, the government announced in December that the restriction would continue until a British National Health Service clinical trial known as PATHWAYS was completed. The trial is expected to finish in 2031.
The review found that evidence supporting puberty blockers and hormone treatment was limited and generally of low quality, but stressed that limited evidence did not amount to evidence of harm.
It also found some consistent evidence that carefully prescribed puberty blockers could reduce gender-related distress and that hormone treatment could provide psychological and social benefits.
Health and Human-Rights Organisations Object
The restriction has been criticised by healthcare organisations, LGBTQ+ advocates and the Queensland Human Rights Commission.
Human Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall warned shortly after the original decision that it could impose “severe limitations on the rights of children to access health services without discrimination”.
“The decision to pause these services has profound and potentially harmful consequences for affected children and their families, particularly given the well-documented risks associated with delayed access to gender affirming care, including to the physical and mental wellbeing of the young people currently awaiting care,” McDougall said.
ASHM Health has also called for Stage 1 and Stage 2 treatment to resume.
The professional health organisation supports an individualised approach involving informed consent, established clinical guidance and multidisciplinary assessment. It says evidence gaps should not be used to deny treatment while additional research is undertaken.
Representative Discrimination Case Under Way
The government’s policy is also facing a representative discrimination complaint before the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The group case is being brought on behalf of young Queenslanders who were under 18, had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria and had not begun hormone treatment when the restriction commenced on 28 January 2025.
The complaint alleges that the policy discriminates against young people on the grounds of gender identity, sex, age and impairment, and breaches their human rights.
It seeks an end to the restriction, restored access to treatment, apologies and possible compensation for those affected. The claims remain to be determined by the tribunal.
The Northern Territory subsequently followed Queensland’s lead in December 2025, withdrawing public funding for puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones for people under 18. That decision was also condemned by medical and LGBTQ+ organisations.
For the Queensland petitioners, the central demand is that healthcare decisions return to consultation rooms.
They argue that doctors, young people and their families — rather than elected officials — should determine which treatment is appropriate in each individual case.
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