Gay conversion therapy banned in Victoria despite protest vote

Gay conversion therapy has been banned in Victoria after a late-night parliamentary debate and despite concerns about the legislation from psychiatrists, religious organisations and lawyers.

Victorian Liberal backbencher Bernie Finn.

Gay conversion therapy has been banned in Victoria after a late-night parliamentary debate and despite concerns about the legislation from psychiatrists, religious organisations and lawyers.

The law, which could mean up to a decade jail or fines of almost $10,000 for anyone found trying to suppress or change another person’s sexuality or gender identity, passed the Legislative Council 27 votes to nine late on Thursday.

Liberal MPs Bev McArthur and Bernie Finn crossed the floor and defied Opposition Leader ­Michael O’Brien to vote against the government legislation.

The vote came after the Law Institute of Victoria expressed concern about the bill, joining a long list of organisations that have urged the government to amend the legislation. Those ­organisations included the Australian Medical Association, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, ­Islamic Council of Victoria, Melbourne Catholic Archdiocese and Victorian Women’s Guild.

In a letter to the government sent earlier this week, Law Institute president Tania Wolff said their members were concerned that the bill “may impose limitations on conversations between children and their parents or other family or caregivers on the issue of gender identity or sexual orientation”.

The institute also noted that the criminal provisions contained within the bill “may unjustly limit people’s rights under the Victorian Human Rights Charter, and that they go further than other national jurisdictions”, including Queensland and the ACT, and that “some legal practitioners have expressed a view that the bill adopts ‘overly-broad’ and ‘vague’ language’’, particularly with reference to the definition of gender identity.

Mr Finn told parliament that while he supported the general principle of banning gay conversion therapy, he could not abide the “bad parts of the bill”.

“This bill is an attack on basic freedoms, on freedoms of choice, free speech, freedom of assembly and an attack on freedom of ­religion,” he said.

Asked earlier whether he would cross the floor on the matter, Mr Finn said: “That is a possibility. We’ll just have to wait and see the final legislation that goes to the house. This bill should not be a controversial bill.

“If this bill was just what the government said it is, there wouldn’t be a problem. But it’s not, it’s a lot more than that. This in its own way is an omnibus bill, and they’ve got a very, very nasty habit of doing this to people, and to the parliament, of putting bills up which are in part acceptable, and in other parts appalling, and this is one of them.”