Queensland’s Health Minister Tim Nicholls has launched an independent inquiry into what has been described as an authorised gender clinic operating in Cairns.
“The Cairns Sexual Health Service delivered an apparently unauthorised pediatric gender service without an agreed model of care to 42 pediatric gender service clients, 17 of whom were prescribed stage one or stage two hormone therapy in a way that may not align with treatment guidelines,” Health Minister Tim Nicholls told the Courier Mail on Monday.
The report claims that children as young as twelve years of age were prescribed puberty blockers and cross sex hormones without parental consent, or the correct level of medical support.
The newspaper says concern about the operations of the Cairns Sexual Health Service were raised by a whistleblower health worker who came into contact with a young person who had been prescribed puberty blocker medication without the required consultation with mental health professionals or an endocrinologist.
An internal review reportedly found that patients were being given treatments that were not was backed by the required experience and credentials and did not adhere to the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents. Since November last year the service has not been accepting any new clients who are under the age of 18.
The previous Labor government completed a review of Gender Services in 2024 that made 25 recommendations on how services in the state could be improved, it did not include any services that were allegedly occurring at the Cairns facility.
Earlier this month the new Liberal government said it was halting the implementation of recommendations from the report, and another review might be required. The party’s policy is that they do not support the gender affirming model of treatment for gender dysphoria and are opposed to the prescription of puberty blocking medications.
Last year the British government banned the use of puberty blocker medication in the United Kingdom following the publication of the Cass Review into the services offered at the Tavistock Clinic.
