Women Speak Tasmania is calling on Tasmania’s Health Minister and Attorney-General to urgently review the clinical, regulatory, and legal framework surrounding the prescription of puberty-blocking drugs to minors, following the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s recent report into their off-label use in Australia.
A report in The Australian on 23 February 2026 detailing the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) findings confirms that Australia does not hold national prescribing data on children receiving puberty blockers for gender dysphoria. While these drugs (GnRH analogues) are approved for conditions such as precocious puberty and certain cancers, they have not been assessed or approved by the TGA for the treatment of gender dysphoria in minors.
Because prescriptions for this indication occur “off-label,” regulators cannot accurately calculate complication rates, evaluate long-term outcomes, or properly assess the balance between risks and benefits.
The TGA also identified known potential risks already listed in product warnings, including impacts on bone density, psychiatric symptoms, and possible fertility consequences. The regulator emphasised the importance of robust informed consent processes in light of these uncertainties.
The TGA findings raise immediate questions for Tasmania’s health authorities.
“Parents are being asked to consent to life-altering treatment for their children in circumstances where even the national medicines regulator acknowledges it does not have adequate data to determine long-term safety,” Dr Caballero said.
“These are not minor clinical questions — they are governance and safeguarding questions.”
Women Speak Tasmania remains concerned about the lack of transparency within the Tasmanian Gender Service.
In March 2025, then Minister for Health Jackie Petrusma confirmed to us that informed consent documents used by the Tasmanian Health Service were “under review” and that copies may become available through a Right to Information process. However, a Right to Information request lodged in September 2025 seeking clarification regarding consent procedures for minors has not received a response within statutory timeframes.
Without public access to consent documentation, parents cannot properly assess the risks, long-term outcomes, or alternative treatment options. Without this information, informed consent cannot be meaningfully given.
Women Speak Tasmania is asking the Minister for Health to take an active role in reviewing current clinical practices in light of the TGA findings. Specifically, the group is calling for:
- Publication of consent materials used for minors
- An independent clinical governance review of the Tasmanian Gender Service
- Confirmation that parents are receiving full risk disclosure consistent with the off-label status of these medications
Women Speak Tasmania is also urging the Attorney-General to work jointly with the Health Minister to examine potential legal liability risks to the State.
“Where treatments are experimental or lack strong evidence, the legal exposure to clinicians and government increases,” Dr Caballero said.
“The Attorney-General should ensure the State understands its duty of care to children, clinicians, and families before harm occurs rather than after.”
Women Speak Tasmania maintains that this issue is fundamentally about transparency, safeguarding, and evidence-based healthcare for children.
-ENDS-
For further information contact
Dr Elizabeth Caballero: [email protected]