NSW Conversion Practices Ban Bill — Freedom for Faith calls for clarity

Posted on March 13, 2024 
Filed under Australia

“The NSW Government has introduced its Conversion Practices Ban Bill into Parliament on Wednesday March 13.

This legislation is a genuine attempt by the NSW Government to keep its promises to faith communities. However, there are still concerns about the breadth of behaviours that the bill covers.

In the lead up to the NSW election, Chris Minns made clear commitments that any legislation to ban ‘conversion practices’ would protect religious freedom, including prayer, teaching and consensual requests for support. These commitments were repeated by many Labor MPs and candidates at forums across the State.

This legislation represents a genuine effort by the Government to keep those promises. The legislation does protect against the most extreme violations of religious freedom that have been seen in the Victorian legislation and replicated in previous proposals in NSW. It also exempts medical practitioners, allowing them to continue doing what is in the best interest of the patient. Finally, the bill provides an exemption for parents to talk to their children, although unfortunately this does not extend to important family relationships such as grandparents.

However, the bill is weakened by the problematic use of the vague term ‘suppression’. Due to the breadth and uncertainty around what is a suppression practice, it remains unclear exactly what conduct would be in the scope of the bill. In other jurisdictions, simply encouraging a person to remain celibate outside of heterosexual marriage is considered ‘suppression’. This uncertainty risks breading fear in faith communities as to what is allowed.

We call on the Government to give greater clarity as to what is and is not a ‘suppression’ practice.”

– Freedom for Faith has published a webpage with the latest on the NSW Government’s proposed Conversion Practices Ban Bill.

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