Wednesday 12 November 2025

Rachel Baxendale

The Australian

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has been accused of a "copout" and "kicking the can down the road", after he said the question of whether to pause giving puberty blockers to Australian children was "a matter for state governments".

His comments come after former Family Court chief justice Diana Bryant who led the Family Court when it approved liberalised access to puberty blockers for gender-distressed children in 2013 told The Australian this week that it might be better for parliaments to step in now and regulate the field of paediatric gender medicine rather than rely on whatever disputes come before judges.

Ms Bryant said the evidence she had accepted from an endocrinologist in the landmark case, that puberty blockers were fully reversible and without side effects, seems "misleading" and "overconfident" in hindsight.

In January, Mr Butler commissioned a review of gender affirming care by the National Health and Medical Research Council, with recommendations on the use of puberty blockers due in mid-2026.

Asked what he made of Ms Bryant's revised view, Mr Butler said: "The first thing I'd say is that puberty blockers are pretty much exclusively prescribed by clinicians employed by state governments in state government services. So a decision about a pause on puberty blockers, such as was initiated by the Queensland government, is ultimately a matter for state governments."

He said it was the role of the federal government "to ensure that all clinicians, and all members of the community, have access to the best possible clinical advice about the use of so-called gender-affirming care for teenagers and young people generally, but the use of puberty blockers in particular".

"That's why I asked the NHMRC to conduct this review," he said.

Several overseas jurisdictions including The Netherlands, where puberty blockers were first used have adopted a much more cautious approach to what they now regard as experimental medicine, with both sides of politics in Britain supporting their banning in the wake of the 2024 Cass review.

Asked whether it weighed on his mind that growing numbers of international experts believed harm was being done to children as a result of the administration of puberty blockers, Mr Butler said: "Well yes, it does weigh on my mind heavily, because we're dealing with people who are at a very vulnerable, formative stage of their lives, in their physical development and their emotional development, frankly, and I think there are arguments on both sides of this debate."

Liberal senator Claire Chandler, who first called for an inquiry into gender-affirmative care in 2023, said it was a "complete copout" for a federal health minister to "push responsibility for gender clinics back on the states".

"Mark Butler knows there's a role for the federal government to play here otherwise, why did he set up the NHMRC review?" Senator Chandler said.

"If the Health Minister were more across his brief, he'd know that there are concerns around the country about the way gender clinics are treating children, and particularly around the use of puberty blockers.

"He'd also know that a number of like-minded countries, like the United Kingdom, have conducted extensive and independent reviews into gender medicine and found the evidence base severely lacking just as the Cass review did.

"It's well past time for a national, independent inquiry into Australia's gender clinics. For the Health Minister to wash his hands of all responsibility for these concerns is incredibly disappointing."

Child psychiatrist Andrew Amos said it was "unacceptable" for a federal health minister to defer to the states on the issue of puberty blockers. "I think the Queensland government has shown the only real leadership in Australia on this issue, and every other jurisdiction and the commonwealth are kicking the can down the road," Dr Amos said.

"Judge Bryant (is) acknowledging the reality that much of the medical profession in Australia refuses to accept, which is that puberty blockers are harmful to kids, and we don't have any strong evidence of benefit."

Women's Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong said it was "deeply concerning that the Health Minister continues to deflect responsibility for safeguarding children".

"The federal government cannot outsource ethics and safety to the states while Australian kids are being experimented on with puberty blockers," she said.