Hi Supporters,
Exciting news from Tasmania!
It is also fantastic to hear that the Premier has already spoken with survivors. "I understand how much it has affected individuals to the detriment of their wellbeing, to put it mildly," he said.
Of course, it is imperative that consultation with survivors of conversion practices is sought, not just at the beginning, but throughout the entire process of creating legislation. That is what happened in Victoria and it resulted in the most comprehensive LGBTQA+ conversion legislation in the world.
Tasmanian survivors are strongly calling for quality legislation.
There are currently three states and territories in Australia that have implemented ‘bans’, however the Queensland legislation was (and still is) criticised heavily by survivors and LGBT+ advocates for being too narrow.
I argue that narrow legislation actually allows LGBTQA+ conversion practices to continue and to flourish unchecked.
It is imperative that all governments in each state and territory emulate the Victorian legislation.
The carefully developed foundations of this model includes legislation that:
● Strongly affirms that LGBTQA+ people are not ‘broken’ or ‘disordered’;
● Defines conversion practices as both ‘change’ and ‘suppression’ practices;
● Bans practices in both formal (medical/psychology/counselling) and informal (including religious and education) settings, whether paid or unpaid, regardless of age. This acknowledges that conversion practices primarily occur in unpaid, informal spaces, and that legislation that only targets formal or health-based practices will do very little to address the harm;
● Targets the false, misleading, and pseudoscientific fraudulent claims that drive conversion practices by focusing on conversion practitioners’ intent and purpose, and acknowledging that it is not possible for a person to provide informed consent to participate in conversion practices;
● Prohibits advertising and promotion of paid or unpaid conversion practices, including promotion of false and misleading claims designed to generate demand;
● Prohibits inducements and referrals to participate in conversion practices;
● Establishes a range of criminal penalties for practices where injury or serious injury occurs,
for advertising conversion practices (strict liability), and for removing children from the
jurisdiction for the purpose of conversion practices;
● References and works alongside existing professional regulatory standards, health and
consumer affairs commissions, and crimes legislation;
● Employs definitions and exemptions that ensure religious leaders and health professionals can only be seen as having delivered conversion practices if clear intent is present, including exemptions for health professionals to use their professional judgement within professional regulatory boundaries;
● Explicitly establishes a Civil Response Scheme with powers of investigation, education, and research, with scope for investigations to be initiated internally or as a response to complaints by third parties, not just by survivors, using strategies that prevent re-traumatisation. The Scheme is empowered to facilitate a range of voluntary and enforceable actions.
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing support!
Chris