South Australia Moves To Outlaw ‘Conversion Therapy’
South Australia is moving to outlaw so called ‘conversion therapy’. A new proposed legislation to be introduced by the Opposition will have religious groups and medical practitioners in South Australia face up to eight years in prison if they try to suppress or change a person’s sexual orientation.
Under Shadow Human Services Minister Nat Cook’s plan, SA Police and the Health Complaints Commissioner would enforce the ban through changes to the Criminal Law Consolidation Act and the Health and Community Services Complaints Act.
Cook, a former health care worker said she had heard from “dozens” of LGBT+ people who said they had endured therapies that left “terrible, damaging long-term consequences”.
“I think this is a situation where people would be blissfully unaware that this was actually an issue and clearly in a society where we expect and insist on equality and inclusion there should be no notion that this type of therapy is even considered,” she said.
“To think that there are people out there that would be wilfully and deliberately harming people purely on the basis of their sexuality and gender is something which I find completely unacceptable and I don’t think it passes any type of test in this community.”
As ‘In Daily’ reports, under Cook’s plan, penalties would be similar to those for existing criminal offences such as recklessly causing harm, carrying a maximum sentence of eight years imprisonment. Higher penalties would be set for those who perform conversion therapy on children or vulnerable adults, but gender transition services for people who identify as transgender would be exempt.
Next week, Labor will decide whether the draft legislation should be subject to a conscience or party vote, with a Bill to be introduced to either the upper or lower house “as soon as possible”.
Read related myGwork articles here:
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Canada To Ban LGBT+ Conversion Therapy
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