Page 2225 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
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Conversion practices gained greater awareness through the 2018 film Boy Erased, directed by Australian Joel Edgerton and based on the book by Garrard Conley, which depicts the abhorrent nature of these practices. In recent years legislated bans on conversion practices have occurred in many countries, thanks to the increase in awareness about these damaging practices.
The ACT government will continue to work with community organisations over the coming period to ensure that the implementation of the bill is understood by organisations impacted and to help ensure that community organisations have the capacity to support affected individuals. The ACT government will also continue to work with organisations to determine what other needs and supports need to be in place to prevent this harm from occurring.
The bill also includes a review after two years of operation. This will allow for a period of time to consider how effective the bill is in addressing the harms caused by conversion practices and will allow any changes to be made to ensure that the bill is fit for purpose.
With this bill our government values people for who they are—LGBTIQ+—and stands against damaging, non-evidence-based practices employed by those who seek to change other people. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
MS ORR (Yerrabi—Minister for Community Services and Facilities, Minister for Disability, Minister for Employment and Workplace Safety and Minister for Government Services and Procurement) (12.17): I rise today in support of the Sexuality and Gender Identity Conversion Practices Bill 2020. ACT Labor is proudly committed to protecting the rights of LGBTIQ+ Canberrans and ensuring that our city is an inclusive place for everyone to live. Discrimination in all its forms must not be accepted in our society, and this government has a strong track record in making the necessary legislative reforms to ensure that diversity is respected and celebrated in the ACT.
Sexuality and gender identity conversion practices harm LGBTIQ+ people. We have seen across the world and here in Australia how detrimental these practices are to the health and wellbeing of those who experience them. The bill before us today will ensure that these harmful conversion practices do not take place in the ACT, with criminal penalties to apply to any person who undertakes such a practice.
The bill will also deliver a new complaints jurisdiction within the Human Rights Commission to deal with complaints related to conversion practices, providing an independent and supportive avenue for any person to raise their concerns. Overall, this legislation is measured and will deliver the simple yet important outcome to protect the lives of LGBTIQ+ Canberrans.
Members would be aware of a range of misinformation that has been circulating in the past few weeks, and I know that the Canberra community have expressed their concerns with some of the assertions that have been made. It is important in debating this issue that we stick to the facts and remember the emotional toll that these discussions can have on LGBTIQ+ people and their families.
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