Puberty Blockers: Chorus of Concern Now Shouts from Across the Tasman 

By David Miklos

New Zealand joins five nations and 25 US states in prioritising children’s safety. Australian Federal Health Minister Mark Butler has the power to follow – if he chooses. 

When New Zealand Health Minister Simeon Brown announced a halt on new puberty blocker prescriptions last week, he cited what should no longer be controversial: a “lack of high-quality evidence” for their benefits in gender-distressed children.¹ 

He’s not the first to reach that conclusion. The UK’s watershed Cass Review – the most comprehensive examination of paediatric gender medicine ever conducted – found in April 2024 that the evidence base was “remarkably weak” and that children had been left on “a pathway of lifelong medicalisation.”² England responded by restricting puberty blockers to clinical trials only. 

Minister Brown’s Associate Minister Casey Costello was blunter: “Puberty blockers cause irreversible harm to bone density, fertility, brain development, and future sexual function. Yet bureaucrats defend them, bowing to activist pressure instead of listening to common sense.”¹ 

New Zealand joins the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark in acting on mounting evidence that these drugs are experimental at best, harmful at worst. 

The United States moves faster still. Twenty-five states have now enacted laws restricting puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors.³ In January, President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting federal funding for such treatments.⁴ In June, the Supreme Court upheld state-level bans in United States v. Skrmetti, ruling that Tennessee’s restrictions did not violate equal protection.⁵ 

The chorus rises. And New Zealand’s stand carries particular weight: until now, they were among the highest prescribers of puberty blockers per capita in the world. We can no longer dismiss these concerns as coming from “over there.” This is across the ditch. This is a haka – feet planted, jugulars bulging, challenging Australia to a game of common sense. 

It’s been 18 months since Cass. The evidence is in. And for 18 months we’ve stumbled, fumbled and delayed. While other nations act out of caution to protect children from irreversible harm, we’ve called a meeting and formed a committee. 

The Architect Says the Building Has Cracks 

Former Family Court Chief Justice Diana Bryant made national headlines this month. In 2013, she authored the Re Jamie decision that opened the door to puberty blockers without court oversight – a ruling celebrated by gender activists worldwide. 

Now? “If I were deciding the case now and had the evidence that’s now becoming available, I certainly doubt I would have come to the same conclusion.”⁶ 

She described the original expert evidence – that blockers were “fully reversible” and without side effects – as “misleading” and “overconfident” in hindsight.⁶ 

She’s not alone. In June, Justice Andrew Strum blocked puberty blockers for a 12-year-old called “Devin,” finding that the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne gender clinic’s director had presented evidence that was “misleading” and “contrary to her obligations as an expert witness.”⁷ When the clinic’s psychologist was asked to name a single referred child who wasn’t ultimately prescribed blockers, she couldn’t recall one.⁷ 

A 100 percent prescription rate is not responsible gatekeeping. It’s a pipeline. 

The NHMRC: Marking Their Own Homework? 

Health Minister Mark Butler has commissioned the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to develop new treatment guidelines. Following New Zealand’s decision, Butler conceded the science is “contested and evolving.”⁸ Interim advice on blockers won’t arrive until mid-2026.⁹ Full guidelines are expected in 2028. 

Eighteen months of beard stroking, while the rest of the developed world acts. 

But the review’s composition should trouble Australians. Associate Professor Ken Pang – who co-authored the existing guidelines,¹⁰ receives NHMRC funding to research puberty blockers,¹¹ and works clinically at the RCH gender service – is involved in the review process. Those same guidelines scored just 19% for methodological rigour in a peer-reviewed assessment.¹² 

We need our own Cass. Robust and truly independent. Instead, we seem to have the fox auditing the henhouse. 

The Federal Lever Exists – Why Won’t We Pull It? 

Minister Butler insists this is a state matter: “All of the scripts for puberty blockers are issued by state governments and state government clinicians.”⁸ 

But the Commonwealth’s regulatory machinery has acted before. In September 2021, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) restricted off-label prescribing of ivermectin by amending the Poisons Standard, citing its power under section 52E(1) of the Therapeutic Goods Act “to protect public health.”¹³  

The TGA did it then. They can do the same for puberty blockers now.  

As Women’s Forum Australia CEO Rachael Wong puts it: “The Commonwealth routinely restricts medicines when risks emerge, and it has the power and obligation to do so here. Children deserve immediate safeguards, not jurisdictional buck-passing.”¹⁴ 

One Minister Who Held the Line 

When Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls paused puberty blockers in January, more than 100 organisations demanded he reverse course – the Human Rights Law Centre, mental health luminaries, even the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.¹⁵ 

He didn’t. 

His independent review reports any day now. Other states watch and wait. 

Over to You, Minister Butler 

Scripture calls us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves” (Proverbs 31:8). These are vulnerable children – fearfully and wonderfully made – caught in a medical experiment that six nations and 25 US states have now deemed too risky to continue unchecked. 

Minister Butler, your New Zealand counterpart made a call. Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Britain made calls. Half of America made a call. 

You have the evidence. You have the power. You have the precedent. 

The world is watching. More importantly, concerned parents are watching. What will your call be? 

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Take Action 

Respectfully write to Minister Butler and urge a precautionary pause on puberty blockers for gender dysphoria, pending a truly independent review. 

Support This Work 

ACL exists to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Your gift helps us keep doing exactly that. 

References 

1. New Zealand Government, “Puberty blockers paused for new patients,” Beehive.govt.nz, 19 November 2025. https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/puberty-blockers-paused-new-patients 

2. Cass H, Independent Review of Gender Identity Services for Children and Young People: Final Report, NHS England, April 2024. https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/ 

3. Human Rights Watch, “US State Legislation Restricting Gender-Affirming Care for Transgender Youth,” 2025. https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/04/13/us-state-legislation-restricting-gender-affirming-care-transgender-youth 

4. Executive Order, “Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” The White House, 28 January 2025. 

5. United States v. Skrmetti, 603 U.S. ___ (2025), Supreme Court of the United States. 

6. Bernard Lane, “Former Family Court chief justice Diana Bryant admits doubts over landmark puberty blockers ruling,” The Australian, 9 November 2025. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/former-family-court-chief-justice-diana-bryant-admits-doubts-over-landmark-puberty-blockers-ruling/ 

7. Re Devin [2025], Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Strum J). 

8. Rachel Baxendale, “Health Minister Mark Butler says puberty blocker science ‘contested and evolving’ after New Zealand issues ban,” The Australian, 20 November 2025. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health/health-minister-mark-butler-says-puberty-blocker-science-contested-and-evolving/ 

9. National Health and Medical Research Council, “National clinical practice guidelines for the care of trans and gender diverse people under 18 with gender dysphoria,” NHMRC.gov.au, 2025. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-advice/guidelines-care-trans-and-gender-diverse-people 

10. Telfer MM, Tollit MA, Pace CC, Pang KC, Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents, Version 1.3, The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, 2020. https://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/adolescent-medicine/australian-standards-of-care-and-treatment-guidelines-for-trans-and-gender-diverse-children-and-adolescents.pdf 

11. Bailey S, Davies C, Pang K, Skinner R, “What are puberty blockers? What are the benefits and risks for transgender children?” The Conversation, 23 July 2025. https://theconversation.com/what-are-puberty-blockers-what-are-the-benefits-and-risks-for-transgender-children-226006 

12. Dahlen S, Connolly D, Engqvist I, Munthe C, “International clinical practice guidelines for gender minority/trans youth, transitioning, and coming out: a systematic review,” Archives of Disease in Childhood, Vol 106, No 11, 2021, pp. 1028-1035. https://adc.bmj.com/content/106/11/1028 

13. Therapeutic Goods Administration, “Notice of an amendment to the current Poisons Standard under paragraph 52D(2)(a) of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 – ivermectin,” TGA.gov.au, September 2021. https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/publication/scheduling-decisions-final/notice-amendment-current-poisons-standard-under-paragraph-52d2a-therapeutic-goods-act-1989-ivermectin 

14. Rachel Baxendale, “Health Minister Mark Butler says puberty blocker science ‘contested and evolving’ after New Zealand issues ban,” The Australian, 20 November 2025. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/health/health-minister-mark-butler-says-puberty-blocker-science-contested-and-evolving/ 

15. “Queensland reinstates puberty blocker ban hours after court overturns it,” Pink News, 28 October 2025; see also ABC News, SBS News coverage of January 2025 pause and subsequent legal challenge.