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Dr Andrew Amos has been banned from publicly discussing gender issues on social media and barred from direct clinical contact, following multiple complaints from trans activists.

Australia’s health regulator has banned a prominent psychiatrist from publicly questioning child gender treatments.

Queensland psychiatrist Dr Andrew Amos — an academic at James Cook University — has been ordered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and the Medical Board of Australia to stop making online statements about gender issues and is barred from direct clinical contact with patients.

The conditions were imposed in response to four complaints lodged by trans activists, according to reports by The Australian.

Accordingly, Dr Amos is required to give AHPRA details of all his social media profiles to ensure he has not posted any comments “in relation to gender medicine, gender identity and/or expression and transgender persons.”

He is also restricted from practising unless he is at an “approved location,” and has been barred from any role involving “direct or indirect” clinical patient contact.

Complaints from Trans Activists

The first complaint against Dr Amos concerned a post on X in September 2024 in which he said men who induced lactation were “the embodiment of narcissism.”

Two anonymous complaints followed after an ABC article quoted Dr Amos criticising child “gender medicine”. The complainants cited posts in which he wrote that “there is no reliable evidence that trans identification can be differentiated from psychosis” and that “doctors who affirm gender delusions are liable for patient harms.”

A fourth complaint related to an exchange in which Dr Amos described British academic Stephen Whittle — a woman who identifies as a man — as a woman pretending to be a man.

AHPRA invoked its “immediate action” power, which it can use when it “forms a reasonable belief there may be a serious risk to people.” Under the provision, the board does not need to establish all facts, and a full investigation may take up to two years.

AHPRA declined to answer questions from The Australian about why conditions were imposed. Separately, the regulator issued a statement saying it “respect[s] practitioners’ freedom of expression… provided it does not involve abuse, discrimination, or pose a risk to public safety.”

Family First National Director Lyle Shelton called for the immediate lifting of the conditions, describing them as regulatory overreach.

“If AHPRA and the LGBTIQA+ child gender clinics had nothing to fear, they would not need to silence their critics,” Shelton said.

“Gagging a senior psychiatrist for raising evidence-based concerns about irreversible medical interventions on children is not in the public interest.”

If AHPRA and the 🏳️‍🌈 child gender conversion therapy clinics had nothing to fear, they would not need to crush freedom of speech.

MEDIA RELEASE

Lift the gag on Dr Andrew Amos – stop silencing doctors who question child gender conversion therapy

Family First National Director… pic.twitter.com/qq7rY5ikgV

— Lyle Shelton (@LyleShelton) March 2, 2026

A Chilling Effect on Medical Debate

Dr Amos has published peer-reviewed work questioning whether the child “gender medicine” model meets core psychiatric standards.

His concerns align with the findings of the 2024 UK Cass Review, which found the evidence base for puberty-suppressing drugs and cross-sex hormones in minors to be weak, and subsequently prompted major policy shifts across parts of Europe.

Shelton pointed to a sharp contrast in how AHPRA has treated competing expert voices.

In the recent Family Court case Re Devin (2025), Justice Andrew Strum found that expert evidence provided by prominent gender clinic doctor Michelle Telfer was “misleading” rather than objective. Complaints in that matter reportedly resulted in no meaningful regulatory action.

“At the same time as a court criticises evidence given in support of child gender treatments, AHPRA moves against a psychiatrist who questions the evidence base,” Shelton said. “Australians are entitled to ask why.”

Queensland psychiatrist Dr Jillian Spencer, suspended from Queensland Health since 2024 after questioning child “gender medicine” at the Queensland Children’s Hospital, told The Australian she feared becoming AHPRA’s next target.

“I’m very anxious that I’ll be next,” Spencer said. “I’ve managed to keep my registration so far, but I don’t know how long I’ve got left.”

‘No Capacity to Debate’

Spencer described a profession-wide silencing that predates any formal regulatory action. Journal articles critical of child gender treatments are blocked by activist reviewers, she explained. Dissenters are refused speaking platforms at conferences, while internal professional debate has, in her account, ceased.

“Within our profession, there has been absolute suppression of any capacity to debate the issue in medical professional forums,” Spencer said. “And people say to us, this is a really sensitive and important debate, it shouldn’t happen on social media or in the media. But what they’re ignoring is that we have no capacity to have the discussion within our profession.”

Spencer has written an open letter she hopes colleagues will sign, but expressed concern that AHPRA’s action will prompt others to stay silent. “I’m a bit scared that all my colleagues will run for cover,” she said.

Dr Amos’ case arrives as Australian regulators face growing scrutiny over their treatment of speech that challenges progressive positions on gender.

The Federal Court last month ruled against the eSafety Commissioner after she sought to suppress a post criticising a primary school’s ‘queer club.’

Meanwhile, Queensland’s own LNP Government has suspended the initiation of puberty-suppressing drugs and cross-sex hormones for minors — the same concerns for which Dr Amos now faces professional restrictions.

Family First is calling for the immediate lifting of conditions on Dr Amos, a transparent review of regulatory decisions in light of the Re Devin findings, and a national pause on experimental child gender treatments pending a full independent inquiry.