On 28 October 2025, Queensland’s Minister for Health and Ambulance Services issued Ministerial Direction QH-MD-002 under section 44(1) of the *Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011*. The official page states that it operates on and from that date, with immediate effect. It applies to public Hospital and Health Services only. It is not a national Australian ban, and it does not, by its terms, close private clinics.
The direction. Hospital and Health Services must not start Stage 1 (puberty-blocking hormone treatment) or Stage 2 (oestrogen or testosterone / cross-sex hormones) for a New Patient under 18 whose indication is gender dysphoria. A Current Patient may continue Stage 1 or Stage 2 for gender dysphoria where clinically indicated. Puberty blockers or sex hormones continue to be prescribed for medical conditions other than gender dysphoria. The official page records a review date of 28 January 2032.
Same-day court context. That same day, the Supreme Court of Queensland in *AB v Chief Executive of Queensland Health* [2025] QSC 277 set aside the earlier Director-General Health Service Directive QH-HSD-058 for procedural reasons (consultation / the circumstances of making the directive). The Minister’s 28 October statement said the court was “concerned with the circumstances of the making of the directive, not whether a pause on Stage 1 Treatment or Stage 2 Treatment was appropriate.” QH-MD-002 was issued later that day after that judgment. This is not a merits ruling that pause-style limits are unlawful.
Official sources
- Direction page (QH-MD-002): health.qld.gov.au — Ministerial Direction
- Ministerial statement, 28 October 2025 (court holding; direction then under consideration): statements.qld.gov.au/statements/103809