The Queensland government has announced the review panel for puberty blockers, to the criticism of LGBT+ advocates.
The Queensland government has revealed that the panel it commissioned to review hormone therapies for transgender children would not have any gender medical specialists or people with lived trans experiences.
The panel consists of three non-GP medical specialists, three academics and a former judge.
The three clinicians included two psychiatrists and one endocrinologist.
Announced in January and expected to be finalised by late November, the final report will guide a major portion of gender affirming care policy in Queensland.
While the review is ongoing, the state’s publicly-funded paediatric gender clinics have been banned from taking on any new patients under 18.
“Would anyone dare to actually have a panel commenting on women’s health matters without actually including any women or any experts working that area?” past Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) president Dr Clara Tuck-Meng Soo told The Medical Republic.
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“We cannot have a panel that actually carries any credibility without actually involving people with lived experience.
“Having a panel with no experts in gender affirming care is like having a panel to look at mental health treatments without any psychiatrists.”
The initial pause on the treatments came from a preliminary review by the Cairns and Hinterland Health and Hospital Service in late 2024.
That review followed the 2024 Cass Review, which led to a ban in the UK on prescribing puberty blockers to those under 18 experiencing gender dysphoria, with the exception of existing patients or those in a clinical trial.
“The review ignored the fact that there is already international consensus on the use of puberty blockers and hormones for trans youth from the Endocrine Society, the American Academy of Paediatrics, WPATH and the AMA, to name a few, and the review findings ignored existing guidelines around the world,” Dr Fiona Bisshop, another former AusPATH president, previously told TMR.
A lack of recognition for how the review was inconsistent with an Australian context was also a point of criticism for how the Cass report would engage with Australian healthcare.
Regarding how this could be addressed, Dr Soo recommended that the Queensland government immediately appoint extra members with expertise in gender medicine or lived experience.
