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Professional bodies representing doctors and nurses have accused a trans advocacy group of misleading conduct in its campaign to raise money to enable children to access puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones via private providers, circumventing Queensland’s public ban.
The Australian Medical Professionals Society and Nurses Professional Association of Australia, between them representing about 16,000 members, have complained to the ACCC regarding the Australian Professional Association for Trans Health’s “Project 491” appeal.
In their letter to the consumer watchdog, AMPS and NPAA cite a landmark judgment by Children’s Court judge Andrew Strum, and the Cass Review of pediatric gender medicine in the UK, to argue Project 491’s reference to “evidence-based” gender-affirming care, and claims about the suicide attempt rate among trans and gender-diverse youth, are misleading.
Project 491 is based on AusPATH’s claim that 491 children have been left “stranded without access to care”, after the Queensland government banned treatment of minors with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones in the public health system.
The organisation states that in the year since the ban took effect in January 2025, Project 491 has enabled “more than 20 young people” to access “gender-affirming care” through the private system.
In August, AMPS and NPAA commissioned former Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission head Gary Johns to write to the ACNC, urging the regulator to strip AusPATH of its charity status, arguing the organisation’s advocacy for gender-affirming care is harming children.
Academic psychiatrist Andrew Amos said AusPATH and its global partner, WPATH – the World Professional Association for Transgender Health – were “political pressure groups masquerading as medical organisations”.
“The public statements by AusPATH about Project 491 are designed to deceive confused children and distressed families. They present themselves as neutral medical experts rather than politically motivated activists, and they confidently assert demonstrably false claims about suicide attempts and the benefits of treatment.