More than 100 Australian doctors have issued a powerful open letter demanding an immediate halt to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery on children and adolescents — practices currently endorsed by Australia’s so-called “gender-affirming” clinics.

This is a welcome intervention that echoes what Family First has been warning about for years: Australia’s LGBTIQA+ gender clinics are harming children, and politicians in both major parties are complicit through their inaction.

The Australian Doctors Federation letter, dated 15 June 2025, warns that the “gender affirmative treatment” model “risks the health and well-being of vulnerable children and adolescents.”

Citing the landmark UK Cass Review, the doctors state: “The evidence for puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for young people with gender dysphoria is weak and uncertain.”

They point to the serious and potentially irreversible consequences: “Invasive treatments… hold known and potential risks of harm. These include sterility, urogenital and sexual dysfunction, effects on bone, brain and cardiovascular health.”

Countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Brazil and the UK have already moved to restrict these dangerous interventions. Yet in Australia, our medical authorities remain silent, and both Labor and Liberal politicians continue to look the other way.

The doctors also cite recent Australian legal precedent, including the Re Devin judgment in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, where Justice Strum:

• “Regarded the risk of harm from puberty blockers as ‘unacceptable’,”
• “Rejected the idea that gender identity is innate and immutable,”
• And “criticised the gender clinic’s policy of unreserved affirmation.”

Family First welcomes the courage of these doctors in breaking the silence and standing for the health and safety of children. Their letter concludes with an urgent call: “We call on Australia’s peak medical and professional bodies… to cease the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgery for children and adolescents due to the lack of evidence of benefit and known risks of serious harm.”

Family First echoes that call and says the time for political cowardice is over. Both Liberal and Labor must act immediately to shut down Australia’s child gender clinics and ban these unethical interventions.

Children deserve evidence-based, compassionate care — not irreversible harm in the name of ideology.