TRUST TRANS FAMILIES. KEEP CARE FOR TRANS KIDS FAIR.

Public access to puberty blockers has been removed in Queensland.
Private access remains available.
That means only families who can afford private care can continue treatment, and care now depends on income and postcode.

This disproportionately affects:

• Single-parent households
• Families on pensions
• Families living with disability
• Rural and regional families

We are a single parent family, and my son has complex medical needs which include gender dysphoria. He requires a lot of medical treatment and the cost is crippling. To have been given financial support from this project has meant the world to us. Not just in a financial sense but emotionally as well. Knowing there are kind people out there sympathetic to the needs of these vulnerable children, has given me so much hope. It has helped ease the anxiety of all of us as we travelling on this journey.

 - Family 3 Project 491.

Care should not depend on income or postcode as the Qld government’s own review recommended:

Bans make care inaccessible for children whose families cannot afford private treatment. (Vine Review, Queensland Health Independent Review 2025)

For many trans young people, the onset of an unwanted - and for some, deeply wrong - puberty does not resolve distress. It often intensifies it. Access to blockers creates breathing space. Gives children and families time for careful assessment, prevents escalating anxiety and fear and give families time to stabilise.

We are grateful to have secured treatment in the private sector, but it is very expensive, particularly for a single mum.  The generous funding we have received allows us to breathe a sigh of relief, knowing she can have the treatment she needs to become the person she has always wanted to be.

- Family 12 Project 491.

PUBERTY BLOCKERS ARE A LONG-ESTABLISHED MEDICATIONS

Any Child experiencing an early puberty can access puberty blockers from around age six until they have had time to reach the early stages of puberty, often around 9. Puberty blockers for precocious puberty are PBS-subsidised at approximately $30.

When Trans young people need puberty blockers it is commonly at the middle of puberty around 11 or 12. Trans kids remain on blockers for a similar duration as kids being treated for precocious puberty. Puberty blockers for trans kids are approximately $750.

Same medication.
Same medical oversight.
Different access.

We are asking for equal access for all children.

THE ROLE OF EVIDENCE

In 2025 Queensland commissioned expert reviews.

• The Vine Review made clear recommendations regarding access and warned that restriction and delay increase harm and inequity.
• The Cairns Report recommended funding a regional gender service to meet equivalent standards to the Queensland Gender Service.
• Responsible governance means implementing commissioned expert advice.
• We are recommending that Queensland follow its own expert guidance.

The Cairns Investigation Report repeatedly directs the Qld Government to adopt the same policies, consent forms, MDT structures, governance frameworks, and standards of care as the Queensland Gender Service and to resume care once governance and resourcing are corrected. (Recommendations 1–17)

AusPATH is advocating for fair healthcare and responsible governance, not fighting a culture war.

• Fairness in healthcare for all Australians.
• Trusting families and healthcare professionals.
• Responsible governance implementing expert advice.

Project 491 ensures:

• Financial assistance for families unable to afford private prescriptions
• Support navigating clinical pathways
• Continued access to regulated, specialist care
• No child disadvantaged because of financial status

I have NEVER seen or heard A speak so positively about life and the future. After our initial session with our doctor, they got into the car and said 'I am genuinely excited for the future and where life might go'. This is a complete turnaround from the person who told me only early this year they would rather be dead than feel how they were feeling. The treatment we can now access is life changing beyond words and we've only just begun. Thank you.

- Family 9 Project 491.

Project 491 is currently supporting 25 families. We need to help many more. In Qld and the Northern Territory Community is stepping in where systems are choosing not to.

AusPATH will use funds raised, in collaboration with care providers in Queensland and across Australia, to establish multi-disciplinary pathways to ensure affected young people receive timely, evidence-based care.