Equality advocates call for Tasmania to follow in Victoria's footsteps in banning conversion therapy

This follows Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’s announcement on Sunday which said the state would ban the practice, which seeks to cure same-sex attraction or transgender identity. 

Victoria would be the first state in Australia to ban the practice. 

Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome called on the Tasmanian government to give in-principle support to legislation banning conversion therapy and fund a Tasmania Law Reform Institute inquiry into the best way to do it. 

“LGBTI Tasmanians are still being subject to the barbaric practice known as conversion therapy, including right here in Tasmania,” Mr Croome said. 

“Conversion therapy is a cruel and barbaric practice that destroys the self worth of those who undergo it, not least by holding out false hope they can be cured of something that is perfectly natural.

“International evidence shows the best response to conversion therapy is a mix of criminal and civil sanctions, plus better regulation and education.”

A government spokesperson said the government was focused on its recent referral to the Tasmania Law Reform Institute regarding how the state manages issues of sex and gender. 

Tasmanian Greens leader Cassy O’Connor said the Greens would like to congratulate the Victorian government for committing to this reform. 

“The Greens recognise so-called conversion therapy causes profound harm to LGBTI people. It is homophobic, religious whackery dressed up as therapy,” Ms O’Connor said. 

“Conversion therapy is an outdated, harmful and often barbaric practice that can significantly harm vulnerable LGBTI people who have may been pressured into therapy by family or communities.

“All medical or psychological treatment must be based on evidence and science, not dogma. Conversion therapy has no place in a modern, humane Tasmania. 

“A person’s sexuality is not a mental health condition. It has not been considered as such in Australia since 1973, the year it was removed from the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

“The Australian Psychological Association has taken a stance against conversion therapy, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for a ban on this archaic and traumatic practice. 

“Many countries, like the United States and Malta, have banned conversion therapy, just as Victoria has.

“It’s time Tasmania followed suit.”