Mark Butler fast-tracks puberty blockers review

Health Minister Mark Butler has fast-tracked a review into puberty blockers for children but says states will retain control over prescribing the controversial medication.

Health Minister Mark Butler addresses the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman/NewsWire

The federal Health Minister says he expedited a review into the effects of puberty blockers on children due to the “urgency for clear advice” on the treatment, but will not intervene in the states to restrict the prescription of the medication.

In his strongest comments since announcing the government had ordered a review of the national guidelines for young Australians experiencing gender dysphoria, Mark Butler told the National Press Club it was up to the states to determine whether children can access the controversial medicine.

But he also said the National Health and Medical Research Council would deliver an interim report into the effect of puberty blockers on young people by mid-2026 to “ensure states are acting on the best possible advice”.

“Given the level of debate and contest around this, I thought it was appropriate for the most esteemed body in this area in the country to do that work rather than have these debates play out in different ways in different jurisdictions,” he said.

“I’ve also asked the NHMRC to expedite some advice about the use of puberty blockers. Obviously, for teenagers, because that is the age they take effect or even a little earlier that adolescence and that advice will be provided in the middle of next year.”

Mr Butler’s comments follow the unprecedented intervention of Family Court judge Andrew Strum earlier this year, who delivered a judgment preventing a child from accessing puberty blockers and questioning the integrity of the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for gender diverse children.

He said the provision in the guidelines to affirm any child who raises concerns over their gender was “oddly binary”, and instead relied on findings contained in a report written by UK pediatrician Hilary Cass who recommended the restriction of puberty blockers.

Shortly after Justice Strum’s decision was published, a former Family Court judge who helped decide a landmark 2013 case which gave parents, rather than courts, the authority to approve the prescription of puberty blockers for their children said the outcome of the decision might have been different if today’s medical evidence had been available.

Steven Strickland told The Australian in June advanced medical research had shown it was “pretty clear” puberty blockers were risky, but said he had “no concern” about the outcome reached in 2013 ­because “a judge can only reach a decision on the basis of the ­evidence before him or her, ­because a judge is not a medical ­expert”.

Retired Family Court judge Steven Strickland.

Countries including Scotland, Finland, Sweden, France, Norway, Denmark and the UK have all re-evaluated their positions on medical intervention for young people over the past few years, while Queensland earlier this year issued a puberty blocker ban while a review was conducted into the ­effect of the treatment.

Mr Butler on Wednesday said he had given great consideration to the changing landscape of medical evidence surrounding the use of puberty blockers, but said the NHMRC was best placed to provide advice.

“These services are all provided by state governments across the country. They are the ones who fund the services, employ the clinicians, make these decisions ultimately,” he told the Press Club.

“Queensland has taken a decision about this that is different to some other states. That is their right and they’re accountable to communities for those decisions.

“My job as Health Minister is to ensure those states and those services and, most importantly, parents and their children, have access to the most up-to-date, most expert clinical advice, and that’s what they’ll get.”