South Australian gay conversion bill ‘strips parental rights’
SA is poised to become the latest state to ban gay conversion therapy, despite concerns raised by religious leaders the proposed changes will remove the rights of parents and impinge on religious freedoms.
South Australia is poised to become the latest state to usher through legislation banning gay conversion therapy, despite concerns raised by some religious leaders and academics that the proposed changes will remove the rights of parents and impinge on religious freedoms.
The Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill, introduced less than two weeks ago, is to be debated on Tuesday and has been praised by the Malinauskas government for outlawing the “ugly practice” of conversion therapy across the state.
An analysis compiled by a religious think tank, obtained by The Australian, found the bill contained “weak protections” for parents, could prevent faith-based schools from teaching religious doctrine, and could criminalise faith leaders having more than one conversation about sexuality with a member of their congregation.
“The protections for parents only cover ‘parents discussing, or providing guidance …’ to their children on issues relevant to the bill. Parents do far more than merely discuss or provide guidance as they raise their children, including setting family rules and behavioural standards,” the analysis, compiled by the Freedom for Faith group, reads.
“The right of parents to raise their children consistent with their moral and religious beliefs should be respected.”
The same concerns from faith leaders were raised in NSW earlier this year when a near-identical bill was quickly ushered through state parliament.
At the time, University of Newcastle associate professor Neil Foster raised concerns that churches would need to walk a fine line “between counselling which urges someone to live in accordance with God’s will … and counselling which ‘suppresses’ a person’s ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender identity’”.
He also said “oppressive and violent practices” designed to “convert” someone’s sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual should be banned, but are “really no longer around”.
The Freedom For Faith analysis describes traditional conversion practices as “coercive and barbaric”, but says they are already banned under existing legislation.
“Many faiths have strong beliefs about the nature of gender and sexuality – beliefs that have been held consistently for thousands of years,” the analysis reads.
“All people, including those belonging to faith communities, have the right to hold these beliefs, teach them, exhort others to live by them, require members of faith communities and organisations to follow them, and support and encourage those who voluntarily do so.”
The bill includes various religious provisos that will allow someone, “without more”, to express, including through prayer, a belief or principle. However Freedom for Faith said by including the “without more” caveat, ongoing religious teaching was effectively outlawed.
The proposed legislation would empower the state’s Equal Opportunity Commission to “investigate the relationship between parent and child and issue binding orders to require activity against the will of the parent”.
Notre Dame adjunct law professor Mark Fowler said state governments had applied “inadequate scrutiny” when rushing through the legislation.
“There is a growing awareness of the wide-ranging limitations that legislation of this nature imposes on the rights of parents and on the operations of religious organisations and schools,” he said.
SA Liberal upper house member Nicola Centofanti said it was unclear why the bill was needed at all, but the state’s Attorney-General, Kyam Maher, said the legislation sent a clear message to the LGBTQIA+ community: “You are loved just the way you are.”
A government spokesperson said the bill would “protect religious beliefs while stopping the harm of conversion practices”. “Our bill contains important protections for religious groups, while ensuring the laws are effective at stopping the harm caused by conversion practices,” the spokesperson said.
Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide pastoral life director Sarah Moffat said the church “supports the banning of conversion practices”. “We are deeply appreciative of the Labor government, through the Attorney-General, for consultation with us,” she said.
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