Queensland ban on puberty blockers for gender dysphoria to continue until at least 2031, LNP announces | Health

A pause on puberty blockers and hormone treatment for new adolescent patients with gender dysphoria in Queensland’s public system will continue until at least 2031, the state’s health minister, Tim Nicholls, announced on Friday.

The decision comes despite a review by Victoria’s former chief psychiatrist, Prof Ruth Vine, now made public, finding that treatment decisions “must be informed by each individual’s presentation and circumstances”.

With proper and cautious oversight, standards and appropriate reporting, “there can be benefit for a young person in being able to access puberty blockers,” the review found.

In October, Queensland’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt at banning prescriptions of puberty blockers and hormones to youth with gender dysphoria was unlawful. It prompted Nicholls to issue a new order hours later banning the prescriptions.

Young people who were already undergoing treatment prior to the first ban are not affected. At the time, Nicholls said the ban would remain in place until the Vine review was complete.

Nicholls said on Friday that Vine’s review had now been considered by the cabinet, and that Queensland’s ban will continue until a clinical trial being undertaken by the National Health Service in the UK is complete. The trial is due to finish in 2031.

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“Some people will disagree with it, but the government’s considered view based on the material it has been provided … is that it is in the public interest that the pause continue while that trial is underway,” Nicholls said at a press conference.

“We understand that this is a hotly contested area.”

Vine was not asked to make medical recommendations.

Her report notes that international reviews suggest the evidence supporting puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones for use by gender questioning adolescents is limited and mostly low quality.

However, the review also stresses that limited evidence does not mean evidence of harm.

“Evidence reviews have found some (though limited) evidence of benefit in the short to medium term,” the report says. “There is also not good evidence for harm in the short or medium term and little evidence of harm in the long term.”

The Vine review found low-quality but consistent evidence suggesting that when carefully prescribed, puberty blockers can reduce gender-related distress that may otherwise intensify during puberty.

It also found low-quality but consistent evidence that hormone therapy “can alleviate existing gender dysphoric distress and is associated with beneficial psychosocial impacts”.

Rachel Hinds is the chief executive of the Open Doors Youth Service, which offers mental health support and help accessing healthcare to the LGBTQ+ community. She criticised the timing of the announcement, which coincides with the shutdown of many support services, leaving families and young people without support over the Christmas and new year period.

“This really puts the lives of trans and gender-diverse young people at risk,” she said.

“The timing shows a complete lack of disregard and care for young people in this state and those who care for them.”