Mike Southon of Freedom for Faith on their campaign against a Tassie conversion bill.
One week into the campaign against the Tasmanian Greens’ proposed Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill, MPs are already hearing from concerned Tasmanians.
More than 450 people have signed the petition, and more than 100 emails have been sent to MPs.
Church leaders have told me that MPs are already commenting on the amount of correspondence they have received.
That matters.
As I’ve explained previously, this draft is deeply flawed. Its definition of a “conversion practice” is broad enough to potentially capture a single conversation, prayer or piece of parental guidance.
If a child is involved, no harm needs to be proved for the proposed criminal offence. Conduct falling within the definition could also be legally classified as “child abuse”.
Freedom for Faith has also been supporting senior church leaders as they meet with the Government, Labor and the Greens to explain these problems directly.
But your help is needed to keep this issue front and centre.
If you live in Tasmania and haven’t yet acted, please sign the petition and write to your MPs.
If you live elsewhere, please share the campaign with friends, family or church contacts in Tasmania.
And wherever you live, please pray.
This legislation is still only a draft. There is still an opportunity to persuade Tasmania’s political leaders to reject it and pursue a better approach that protects people from genuine abuse while preserving religious freedom, parental guidance and consensual pastoral care.
Southon noted other concerns in an earlier release:
The Bill goes significantly further than the conversion-practices laws already enacted in New South Wales and South Australia.
Most concerningly, a single conversation, prayer or act of pastoral guidance could become a criminal offence if it were considered to be directed towards changing or suppressing someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
Where a child is involved, no harm would need to be proved.
The protections for parents, churches and religious schools are also inadequate.
Parents would be protected when “discussing” these issues with their children, but not clearly when providing guidance.
Unlike the South Australian law, the Bill does not clearly protect general rules within religious schools. And its protection for prayer and religious teaching is circular – applying only where the conduct is not already regarded as part of a conversion practice.
The proposed Anti-Discrimination Commissioner would also receive extensive powers.
Any person could report an alleged practice, even if they were not affected by it. The Commissioner could investigate organisations, compel documents and attendance, require answers, issue compliance notices and publish findings.
Churches could also be held responsible for the actions of volunteers, including youth leaders, prayer-team members and pastoral-care workers.
Tasmania should not adopt legislation that risks treating ordinary religious practice, parental guidance and pastoral care as criminal conduct.