Children deserve time to grow up. That means protecting them from medical interventions with lifelong consequences before they are old enough to understand what those consequences are.

In Victoria, minors can be placed on puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones through the public health system. These are not minor treatments. They can affect fertility, bone health, brain development and a young person’s body in ways that may never be undone. A child cannot consent to a decision this big. And no parent should be pushed toward it before the evidence is clear.

The rest of the world is now pulling back. In the United Kingdom, the independent Cass Review found the evidence for these treatments in children was weak and unreliable, and the UK moved to restrict puberty blockers for minors. Several countries in Europe, along with a growing number of US states, have done the same. They looked at the science and chose caution.

Victoria has not caught up.

This is not about politics. It is about protecting kids while they are still kids. A young person struggling deserves real care — counselling, support and time — not an experimental medical path with results that cannot be reversed.

The demand is simple. No puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones for under-18s.

I will fight to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for people under 18 in Victorian public health. Protect children. Follow the evidence. Wait until they are old enough to decide.

Here is what that means in practice:

• No puberty blockers prescribed to minors through Victorian public health.
• No cross-sex hormones prescribed to minors through Victorian public health.
• Real support for struggling young people — counselling, mental health care and time.
• Victoria brought into line with the caution now shown across the UK, Europe and a growing list of US states.

These are not radical ideas. They are the basics of caring for children.

A child should be allowed to grow up first. Then, as an adult, make their own informed choice.

Sign the petition. Protect kids while they are still kids.

Add your name  to ban puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for people under 18 in Victorian public health. Then share it with a parent, a friend or a neighbour who wants children protected.