Australia: Queensland to continue pause on paediatric gender hormone therapy pending review

The government of Queensland, Australia initiated Thursday an independent review into the use of paediatric gender hormone therapy. While the final report is due by 30 November 2025, the pause on new patients under 18 accessing hormone therapies within the public healthcare system will remain in place until the review is completed.

Professor Ruth Vine, Australia’s first Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Mental Health and Victoria’s Chief Psychiatrist, will lead the review. The review will consider, amongst other things, the quality of outcomes for the use of Stage 1 and Stage 2 hormones for children and adolescents with gender dysphoria and the strength of the evidence base for using Stage 1 and Stage 2 hormones to treat gender dysphoria. The review will also take into account legal and ethical considerations, such as social impacts on clinical practice and informed consent.

Previously, an independent evaluation of Queensland paediatric gender services finalized under the former labour government in July 2024 concluded that the service provides safe, evidence-based care consistent with national and international guidelines.

Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls initially announced the pausing of prescriptions of stage 1 (puberty suppression) and stage 2 (gender-affirming) hormone therapies on 28 January 2025. According to the minister, the immediate pause was due to concerns over the apparently unauthorized provision of gender services by the Cairns Sexual Health Service, which may have resulted in approximately 17 children receiving hormone therapy inconsistent with the nationally accepted clinical guidelines. The minister also pointed to the ongoing debate around the evidence supporting the effectiveness of stage 1 and stage 2 treatments for people under the age of 18 with gender dysphoria.

Children currently receiving treatment from the Queensland Children’s Gender Service will be exempt from the pause. However, there are around 491 children in Queensland waiting to access these treatments. The Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody criticised the pause, stating:

Trans and gender diverse children and young people should feel supported to affirm their gender by the adults in their lives and health care providers. This pause has the potential to harm the physical and mental wellbeing of children in Queensland who are currently awaiting care … Above all, we must ensure we are putting the wellbeing of trans and gender diverse children and young people first.

The decision to undertake the review was influenced by the tightening of regulations around prescribing hormone therapy to children and adolescents in several European countries and the UK. Notably, the UK undertook a similar review which found amongst other things, that there is weak evidence for early puberty suppression and its impact on gender dysphoria, and mental or psychosocial health. Following the review, the UK has placed an indefinite ban on the prescription of puberty blockers for people under age 18. Relatedly, US President Trump has also imposed restrictions on access to gender-affirming treatment for transgender youth.

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EU: Court of Justice confirms “no need of gender reassignment surgery for rectification of personal data”

“43 In the present case, it is apparent from the request for a preliminary ruling that the Member State concerned has adopted an administrative practice whereby the exercise, by a transgender person, of their right to rectification of data relating to their gender identity, contained in a public register, is conditional upon the production of evidence of gender reassignment surgery. Such an administrative practice gives rise to a restriction of the right to rectification, which must comply with the conditions referred to in Article 23 of the GDPR, as stated in the preceding two paragraphs of the present judgment.

44      First, it must be noted that that administrative practice does not satisfy the requirement that a Member State’s law may restrict the scope of the right provided for in Article 16 of the GDPR only by means of legislative measures. Subject to verification by the referring court, Hungarian law does not appear to contain any legislative measure relating to the evidential requirements applicable to the rectification of data relating to the gender identity of persons who are listed in the asylum register.

45      Second, such an administrative practice undermines the essence of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Charter and, in particular, the essence of the right to the integrity of the person and the right to respect for private life, referred to in Articles 3 and 7 of the Charter respectively.

46      In that regard, it should be noted that, in accordance with Article 52(3) of the Charter, the rights guaranteed by the Charter have the same meaning and the same scope as the corresponding rights guaranteed by the ECHR, the latter constituting a minimum threshold of protection (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 October 2024, Mirin, C‑4/23, EU:C:2024:845, paragraph 63 and the case-law cited).

47      It is apparent from the settled case-law of the European Court of Human Rights that Article 8 ECHR, which corresponds to Article 7 of the Charter, protects a person’s gender identity, which is a constituent element and one of the most intimate aspects of their private life. Thus, that provision encompasses the right to establish details of their identity as individual human beings, which includes the right of transgender people to personal development and physical and moral integrity and to respect for and recognition of their gender identity. To that end, Article 8 imposes positive obligations on States, in addition to negative obligations to protect transgender persons against arbitrary interference by public authorities, which also entails the establishment of effective and accessible procedures guaranteeing effective respect for their right to gender identity. Furthermore, in view of the particular importance of that right, States have only limited discretion in this area (see, to that effect, judgment of 4 October 2024, Mirin, C‑4/23, EU:C:2024:845, paragraphs 64 and 65 and the case-law cited).

48      In that context, the European Court of Human Rights has held, inter alia, that the recognition of the gender identity of a transgender person cannot be made conditional on the completion of surgical treatment not desired by that person (see, to that effect, ECtHR, 19 January 2021, X and Y v. Romania, CE:ECHR:2021:0119JUD000214516, §§ 165 and 167 and the case-law cited).

49      Third and lastly, an administrative practice such as that at issue in the main proceedings is not, in any event, either necessary or proportionate in order to ensure the reliability and consistency of a public register, such as the asylum register, since a medical certificate, including a psychiatric diagnosis, may constitute relevant and sufficient evidence in that regard (see, to that effect, ECtHR, 6 April 2017, A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France, CE:ECHR:2017:0406JUD007988512, §§ 139 and 142).

50      In the light of the foregoing considerations, the answer to the second and third questions is that Article 16 of the GDPR must be interpreted as meaning that, for the purposes of exercising the right to rectification of the personal data relating to the gender identity of a natural person that are contained in a public register, that person may be required to provide relevant and sufficient evidence that may reasonably be required of that person in order to establish that those data are inaccurate. However, a Member State may not, under any circumstances, by way of an administrative practice, make the exercise of that right conditional upon the production of evidence of gender reassignment surgery.”

Source: JUDGMENT OF THE COURT (First Chamber) – 13 March 2025 – (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data – Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – Article 5(1)(d) – Principle of accuracy – Article 16 – Right to rectification – Article 23 – Restrictions – Data relating to gender identity – Data incorrect from the time of inclusion in a public register – Means of proof – Administrative practice of requesting proof of gender reassignment surgery )

In Case C‑247/23 [Deldits], (1)

REQUEST for a preliminary ruling under Article 267 TFEU from the Fővárosi Törvényszék (Budapest High Court, Hungary), made by decision of 29 March 2023, received at the Court on 18 April 2023, in the proceedings

VP v Országos Idegenrendészeti Főigazgatóság