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The Queensland government released confidential information about the mother of a trans teenager – data she says potentially “outed” her teen – to a stranger.

Allegations of “Intimidation” and “Invasion of Privacy”

The revelation came as the state government was charged of “intimidation” and “a breach of confidentiality” after demanding private medical information from parents of transgender children who are contemplating a further court case to its controversial ban on hormone blockers.

Latest Official Order on Hormone Treatments

Recently, the Queensland health official, 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 illegal.

Guardian Australia has spoken to four mothers who have approached Nicholls for a legal document called a explanation of decision – a detailed account of why the government made a decision to prohibit hormone treatments in the state. Legally, the document must be supplied under the legal statute.

Requested Health Information

All four were asked by the Queensland health department for details of their teen’s health background, including “your child’s name, their birthdate and any other evidence which supports your teen having a clinical diagnosis of gender identity disorder”.

The information were requested before the explanation would be provided.

The email, which has been seen by the Guardian, also instructed them to “please also confirm if your teen is a client of the Queensland Children’s Gender Clinic so that we can confirm the data submitted with Children’s Health Queensland,” reads the communication, which was dispatched recently.

Parents Label Request as Breach of Confidentiality

All four mothers characterized the demand as an invasion of privacy.

A mother said she was hesitant to share the details because the state government had accidentally forwarded her information to a another individual.

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

Situation of the Mother

The parent, who cannot be legally identified because it would also identify or expose her teen, was among those who requested a explanation on multiple occasions.

Earlier, the agency sent a response meant for her to someone else, revealing 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 Guardian has seen an message from the agency confirming the mistake.

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

“My daughter is incredibly private. She is immensely fearful of being outed in any social setting. She dislikes anyone to be aware 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 disclose is out of need for gaining access to services and exclusively to individuals I consider incredibly safe and I trust completely.”

Louise was particularly concerned about the suggestion it would be “verified” by the hospital.

She said the request was “threatening” and “feels threatening”.

Other Parent Voices Concerns

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

“It’s not my information, it’s a seven-year-old’s details,” she said.

“To imagine that that data could accidentally be disclosed one day, in any way, you know, although that was accidental, could be extremely upsetting to them.”

She responded saying the department had asked for an “extraordinary amount of information”.

“I would not share that information to any other organisation that requested it, especially in the climate of the present environment,” she said.

“It’s such highly confidential stuff. You would not reveal, for instance, your HIV status to the government office, you know. You’d be very reluctant and very cautious to provide such details to a group of officials, essentially.”

Legal Service Weighing Second Lawsuit

The LGBTI Legal Service, which assisted the mother in her case, was considering a second lawsuit, it said last week.

Its president, Ren Shike, said the ruling had impacted about hundreds of minors and their families and it was “important to promptly enable the provision of explanations so that children and their guardians can understand the logic behind this ruling, which has had such a devastating impact on their access to healthcare”.

Authorities Stance on Prohibition

The government has repeatedly said the ban would remain in place until a review into gender-affirming care had been finished.