People with Disability Australia (PWDA), the national peak representing LGBTQIA+ people with disability, condemns the Queensland Government's decision to suspend the provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapies to minors seeking gender-affirming care in state health facilities. This decision undermines the rights of young people and their access to essential health care.
The Queensland Government’s action is out of step with the Australian Government's National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People. The plan explicitly calls for equitable access to gender-affirming healthcare, evidence-based care, and inclusive health services for LGBTQIA+ individuals. The Queensland Government has not only disregarded the plan but is jeopardising the safety and health outcomes of young people, including those with disability, who already face significant barriers to inclusive healthcare.
PWDA recognises that the evidence on the benefits of hormone treatments is well-established. Policies like this increase stigma and marginalisation of the communities we represent.
“Transgender and intersex people with disability already face enough barriers to accessing the healthcare we need – and for kids it’s even harder. This public health moratorium increases barriers to care by an order of magnitude. Young people, trans or disabled, must have the right to make decisions about their own bodies without political interference,” said PWDA President Trinity Ford.
“The evidence is clear that puberty blockers and hormone therapies are safe, effective, and necessary. The Queensland Government’s own earlier review affirmed this. The state banning puberty blockers means it is forcing children to undergo irreversible changes to their secondary sex characteristics, instead of buying them and their families time to decide. It flaunts established medical evidence and puts young people, including those with disability, at serious risk of harm. It must be reversed immediately,” Ms Ford said.
“Young people with disability know what they need. They should be supported by their families and medical teams to make healthcare decisions without interference from politicians,” said PWDA Deputy CEO Megan Spindler-Smith.
Public healthcare is under-resourced and oversubscribed. PWDA understands that the catalyst for this decision was one regional health centre where, for just 17 out of some 550 patients, a partly staffed multidisciplinary team made harm-minimisation decisions for patients who presumably needed urgent care. There are processes underway to assess if those decisions were appropriate. However, the political focus on paediatric trans healthcare means that these occasions where there are question marks over a single service it is amplified and weaponised.
PWDA calls on the Queensland Government to reverse this harmful policy and to engage with medical professionals, transgender people, and disability organisations to uphold the rights and wellbeing of LGBTQIA+ young people.
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ABOUT PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY AUSTRALIA
People with Disability Australia Incorporated (PWDA) is a national disability rights and advocacy, non-profit, non-government organisation. We have a cross-disability focus, representing the interests of people with all kinds of disability and our membership is made up of people with disability and organisations mainly constituted by people with disability.
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