Arabic version: بارنيت يثير مخاوف بشأن مشروع قانون ممارسات التحويل في تسمانيا

According to ABC News, Tasmania Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Guy Barnett has criticised a Greens bill seeking to ban conversion practices, calling the draft legislation “fundamentally flawed”.

In a letter to Women Speak Tasmania, Mr Barnett said the bill risked criminalising certain conversations between parents and children, discussions within families, and conversations or prayers in churches or religious settings. He described the proposal as among the most extreme of its type in Australia and said its provisions were broad and ambiguous.

The Greens’ draft defines conversion practices as conduct intended to change, suppress or eradicate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. It includes carve-outs for religious expression, including prayer, and for parents discussing sexual or gender orientation with their children. Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff said the proposal was in line with laws enacted in other states and said changes were being made following stakeholder feedback.

The Tasmanian Law Reform Institute found in 2022 that conversion practices had caused “severe harm”, were continuing in Tasmania, and should be outlawed. Equality Tasmania’s Rodney Croome said the bill targeted harmful treatments, adding that no one had been convicted in other Australian states for a conversation or prayer.

The Tasmanian government has not said how it will vote on the Greens bill. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he supports a ban on conversion therapy but wants balanced legislation, while allowing any Liberal member seeking a conscience vote to have one. Labor and several crossbenchers have indicated support for the bill.