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The Queensland government released confidential information about the mother of a transgender teenager – information she claims potentially “outed” her child – to a unknown individual.

Accusations of “Intimidation” and “Invasion of Privacy”

The revelation came as the state government was accused of “intimidation” and “an invasion of privacy” after requesting private health records from guardians of trans youth who are considering a additional legal challenge to its disputed ban on hormone blockers.

Latest Government Order on Hormone Treatments

Last month, the state health minister, Tim Nicholls, issued a new order prohibiting the prescription of hormone blockers for transgender patients, just hours after the state’s supreme court ruled the government’s first attempt was unlawful.

Guardian Australia has interviewed several parents who have contacted Nicholls for a official paper called a explanation of decision – a formal explanation of why the government decided to prohibit hormone treatments in the region. Legally, the paper must be supplied under the legal statute.

Requested Health Information

All four were asked by the health authorities for details of their child’s medical history, including “your child’s name, their date of birth and any supporting documents which confirms your teen having a clinical diagnosis of gender dysphoria”.

The information were sought before the explanation would be released.

The email, which has been seen by the media, also asked them to “please also confirm if your teen is a patient of the Queensland Children’s Gender Clinic so that we can verify the data submitted with the health service,” states the email, which was dispatched last Friday.

Parents Describe Demand as Invasion of Privacy

Each parent characterized the demand as an violation of confidentiality.

One parent said she was reluctant to share the information because the authorities had accidentally forwarded her data to a another individual.

“It feels like having to ‘out’ your child to actually get a response; like, it’s terrifying,” she said.

Case of the Mother

The parent, who cannot be legally identified because it would also reveal or “out” her teen, was one of several who asked for a explanation both times.

Earlier, the agency emailed a response intended for her to someone else, disclosing her name and location – and the detail that she had a trans teen – to a third party. She said a government employee later apologised by telephone; the media has obtained an email from the agency admitting the mistake.

She said she felt “ill and vulnerable” as a consequence of the blunder.

“My daughter is incredibly private. She is deeply afraid of being exposed in any public space. She doesn’t like people to know that she’s trans,” the mother said.

“I respect that to my very being as much as humanly possible. The sole occasion I ever, ever share is out of necessity for gaining access to services and only to people I consider incredibly safe and I trust completely.”

The parent was particularly concerned about the suggestion it would be “confirmed” by the hospital.

She said the request was “threatening” and “seems coercive”.

Other Mother Expresses Worries

Another mother said she was not comfortable disclosing the health background of her seven-year-old non-binary child.

“It’s not my data, it’s a child’s details,” she said.

“To imagine that that information could inadvertently be leaked one day, in any way, you know, even if that was unintentional, could be extremely upsetting to him.”

She wrote back saying the agency had asked for an “excessive level of detail”.

“I wouldn’t provide that information to another entity that requested it, particularly in the climate of the current political climate,” she said.

“It’s such highly confidential information. You would not reveal, for example, your HIV status to the minister’s office, you know. You’d be very reluctant and very cautious to provide any of that information to a group of officials, essentially.”

Legal Service Weighing Second Lawsuit

The advocacy organization, which represented the parent in her challenge, was evaluating a second lawsuit, it said last week.

The head, Ren Shike, said the ruling had affected about hundreds of minors and their families and it was “important to promptly enable the supply of explanations so that children and their parents can understand the logic behind this decision, which has had such a devastating impact on their medical care”.

Government Position on Ban

The authorities has repeatedly said the prohibition would remain in place until a review into trans healthcare had been completed.