Queensland Supreme Court Overturns Government Ban on Puberty Blockers

Judge rules that the state’s freeze on gender-affirming care was unlawful, marking a major victory for trans youth and their families.

The Supreme Court in Brisbane has overturned the Queensland government’s controversial ban on puberty blockers for transgender adolescents, ruling that the directive was issued without proper legal process.

In a detailed written judgment, Justice Peter Callaghan clarified that the case was not about the medical merits of gender-affirming treatment, but rather about whether the state followed lawful procedures when halting access to it.
“They are concerned solely with the legal requirements that attend any decision of this nature, irrespective of the subject matter,” he wrote.

The mother of a 14-year-old trans teenager brought the challenge, arguing that the directive — signed by Queensland Health director-general Dr David Rosengren earlier this year — was unlawful. Her legal team succeeded on every ground, including proving that the directive had been issued without consulting the state’s hospital and health service chiefs.

Executives were reportedly informed of the freeze during a Teams meeting at 10am on January 28, while Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced the decision to the media at the same time. None of the health leaders had seen a draft of the directive beforehand. The court also found that Dr Rosengren acted under ministerial direction when making the decision.

Outside court, the mother expressed relief that “justice” had been served.
“This has been a harrowing and traumatising ordeal,” she said. “No teenager should ever have to go through something like this just to get the health care that they need.”
She added that her child’s treatment “was ultimately decided by the government with no input by anyone with expertise in treating transgender young people,” describing the fight as a “David versus Goliath battle … against the resources of the state government.”

LGBTI Legal Service lawyer Matilda Alexander, who led the case, called the outcome “an overwhelming defeat of the government.”
“The ban on gender affirming care has caused so much pain and so much suffering for children in Queensland and I hope that that pain and that suffering is now at an end,” she said. “This was justice for transgender people throughout Queensland. This is justice more broadly for the overreach of government powers and for the rule of law.”

Equality Australia’s legal director Heather Corkhill welcomed the decision, saying young people should have access to medical care without political interference.
“Politicians have no place interfering in people's medical decision-making and in their rush to act, this government bypassed their own consultation processes and ignored the dire human cost,” she said.

Despite the court’s ruling, Health Minister Tim Nicholls announced in Parliament later that afternoon that he would issue a new health directive to immediately reinstate the freeze.

The government has been ordered to pay the mother’s legal costs.