Just.Equal Australia has called on the South Australian parliament to amend the Labor Government’s Bill to ban conversion practices.
Spokesperson for Just.Equal, Brian Greig, said the bill was so deeply flawed that not only did it completely fail to stop conversion practices, it actually facilitated them.
“We call South Australia’s Upper House to significantly amend this bill, and if the amendments are not supported by the Labor government, the bill must be voted down entirely,” Greig said.
Greig echoed survivors of conversion practices in describing the bill as one of the worst of its kind.
Veteran South Australian LGBTIQA campaigner, Dr Michael Pilling, added his voice to the many calls for amendments.
“It is shameful that the state which was first in Australia to decriminalise homosexuality, is now positioning itself to be the worst in Australia on conversion practices.”
“Premier Andrews in Victoria passed the best conversion practices ban in the world just two years ago, and now Premier Malinauskas in South Australia has created a new benchmark – with a deeply flawed attempt to do so.”
Dr Pilling said it was unacceptable that the government had not allowed any time for community consultation, and was rushing the bill through without listening to those most effected.
Just.Equal said the bill was so bad it risked damaging similar reforms being considered in Tasmania and Western Australia.
LGBTQA+ conversion practices has been condemned by both the Australian Medical Association and Australian Psychological Society as harmful and dangerous.
Research finds that many people subjected to it are found with much higher levels of depression, PTSD and suicidal ideation. Human rights experts at the United Nations have said conversion practices “can amount to torture.”
Brian Greig said conversion bans were now in place in Victoria, NSW, the ACT and in a limited form in Queensland.
“With Tasmania and Western Australia promising reform next year, South Australia now risks making itself a safe-haven for those people who conduct this psychological abuse on vulnerable people,” Greig said.
Just.Equal is calling on the SA parliament to amend the bill to:
- Prohibit inducements to conversion
- Not allow one-off acts to occur
- Greatly expand the reporting time available to survivors, similar to reporting times for survivors of sexual assault.
“Failing this, the bill should be rejected outright, otherwise it drags the whole nation down and will cause enormous harm to LGBTQA+ people,” Greig said.
