Faith NSW, a body representing and bringing the different faith groups together, has advocated for the NSW State government to take as much time as it needs to have a workable Conversion Therapy bill. This morning, it was announced that the bill won’t be coming to parliament this year, and the process of drafting it will continue into 2024.
“We’ve been working with the government to ensure that within any changes to the legislation, there are protections for faith communities and people of faith (faith leaders, parents, etc) to be able to teach and speak in line with their beliefs, and this was also a pre-election commitment from the ALP,” Murray Norman CEO of Faith NSW told The Other Cheek.
“We have been very grateful that the NSW government is prepared to listen to our concerns and hear the perspective of people of faith. We recognise that it is a complex piece of legislation that is trying to take into account the different points of view of the many groups within our diverse and multicultural society. So we appreciate that the government has made the decision to take the time to get this legislation right, rather than rushing something through before the end of the sitting week.”
It was at a rally organised by Better Brighter Futures – a multifaith group that now operates as Faith NSW – that the Leader of the Labor Party, now Premier Chris Minns, promised that an NSW Labor conversion therapy bill would not interfere with preaching and prayer while wishing to shield young people.
Minns told the rally: “So I need to say … this has got to be directed at an individual’s – the ban or the conversion ban has to be directed at an individual’s sexuality with the direct purpose of suppression. Taking offence at the teachings of a religious leader will not be banned. Expressing a religious belief through sermon will not be banned. And an individual, at their own consent, seeking guidance through prayer will not be banned either.
“It is a very complicated piece of legislation. We know that this working group is important in making sure that we understand the complexities in the law and the application of it. And we believe that we can thread the needle if you like to make sure that young people who are in that position are not damaged as a result. But I’m not standing here and sitting here in front of all of you suggesting that it’s an easy law to land. You’ve seen complexity in other states and it needs to be handled carefully.”
The LGBTQIA community were given assurances as well. The Guardian reported Minns as saying ““We should not have a situation where children are being told something is wrong with them and that they need to be fixed.”
Faith NSW believes the Government should continue to work to try to meet its commitmnets to both sides. The group is made up of respentatives from diverse faiths: Norman is a Presbyteran, Co Chairs Darren Bark, and Surinder Jain, are Jewish and a Hindu, Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman, the Secretary is Muslim and Bishop Michael Stead, the treasurer, is Anglican.
Norman urges the churches to use the delay to pray and contact their MPs. Freedom for Faith a seperate organisation has provided an online resource that makes it easy to make contact and set up a meeting.
Information about Faith NSW/
Image: Premier Chris Minns and Murray Norman, Credit: Faith NSW