The Northern Territory government has been criticised for following Queensland and banning puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormone therapy for transgender children.
NT Health Minister Steve Edgington made the announcement on Sunday that public health system access to the gender-affirming treatments would “cease” for under 18’s.
He claimed the Territory’s decision is in the interests of “child safety” and follows similar bans in Queensland, New Zealand and overseas which have been condemned by medical experts as putting trans youth at risk.
“In other places, cases have emerged where children as young as 12 were treated outside clinical guidelines, including an absence of parental consent,” the Country Liberal Party (CLP) MP said in a statement.
“Territory kids deserve to grow up free from these dangerous ideologically driven practices with irreversible consequences.”
Mr Edgington said “a handful of teenagers” are currently accessing the gender-affirming care through the NT public health system.
“The Territory’s public health focus will remain on adolescent mental health services,” he said.
The Health Minister did not provide any other details, nor indicate how long the ban will be in place in the Northern Territory.
‘It places Territory lives at risk’
The ban is a reversal from earlier this year, when Mr Edgington said in March in response to an Australian Christian Lobby petition that the government was not considering changes to access to gender-affirming care.
Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) CEO Eloise Brook said “limiting or denying access to care poses serious risks and disproportionately harms the small number of people who need it.”
“Medical professionals rely on standards developed from extensive research and clinical practice,” Brook said.
“Evidence indicates that restricting access to this care can cause significant harm to young people, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety, and, in some cases, self-harm.”
Top End Pride said the NT government was “willing to follow the evidence of experts – doctors and specialists – earlier this year but has now backflipped.”
“We know the Minister for Health was satisfied with the clinical information and processes provided by NT Health earlier this year,” Top End Pride chair Becky Tidman told QNews.
“Now the CLP has decided to follow the widely criticised decisions of Queensland to ban puberty blockers, and in doing so places Territory lives at risk.
“Increased funding and improved access to gender affirming healthcare should be the priority, not government overreach that restricts access to essential health services.”
Tidman said the ban could force families to leave the NT, “a pattern we are seeing for many who cannot access essential healthcare in the Territory.”
“All Territorians, including our transgender community, deserve healthcare that is guided by evidence, expertise, and compassion, not fearmongering or political pressure,” she said.
“To our young gender-diverse and transgender people, Top End Pride sees you and will stand with you to advocate for a Territory where your rights are respected and protected.”
Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said the timing of the NT government’s announcement is “devastating for trans young people and their families.”
“To announce it just days before Christmas is especially cruel,” she said.
“The government’s ban flies in the face of the medical evidence, expert consensus and the approach taken by health systems across almost every other Australian state and territory,” she said.
“Governments have no place interfering in choices that belong with young people, their parents, and the specialist doctors who care for them.”
Queensland government extends puberty blocker ban
The NT decision comes days after the Queensland government announced the state’s ban on the gender-affirming treatments would continue for at least five years.
Peak medical bodies and LGBTQIA+ organisations have condemned both the ban and the Queensland LNP government’s response to a review into the gender affirming treatments by psychiatrist Professor Ruth Vine.
Dr Vine’s report, released on Friday, gave three options to the government: continue the ban, lift the ban or lifting the ban with additional measures for monitoring treatment.
She warned continuing the ban could present “inherent risk” to young people and “would not strengthen research or monitoring of quality of care.”
“It also carries legal, ethical, and social risks, including potential inequity driven by socio-economic status or geographical location, and the use of treatments outside of specialist multidisciplinary teams in public hospitals,” the report stated.
Equality Australia accused the Queensland government of “misrepresenting” the Vine review’s findings and “choosing a pathway assessed as highest risk and of least benefit.”
“Nothing in the Vine report concludes that gender-affirming care is inherently unsafe, ineffective or harmful,” CEO Anna Brown said.
Speaking on Friday, LGBTIQA+ Health Australia director Nicky Bath said the announcements come at a time when young people and families have the least access to support.
She said the announcement just days before Christmas, “as peer-led services wind down and following the start of the national social media ban,” will harm young people.
“It reflects a troubling disregard for the wellbeing of trans young people and the families trying to support them,” Bath said.
If you need support, help is available from QLife on 1800 184 527 or online at QLife.org.au, Lifeline on 13 11 14, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.
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