By The Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA)
A consultation draft of the Tasmanian Greens’ Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill 2026 would classify certain pastoral conversations with children as child abuse.
None of that has attracted much media attention. It should.
The bill defines a “conversion practice” as conduct directed towards a person “whether with or without the person’s consent”, meaning a person who freely seeks pastoral support for unwanted same-sex attraction or gender confusion could not lawfully receive it.
Even more concerning, under the draft’s consequential amendments the definition of “child abuse” would extend to cover engaging in a conversion practice directed towards a child.
THE PRACTICE IS THE OFFENCE EVEN IF NO HARM IS PROVEN
The draft states: “It is not necessary to prove that the conversion practice caused injury to the child”.
The practice itself is the offence. No injury need be proved.
These are not abstract concerns. The bill will even take into account anonymous complaints.
Criminal and civil liability run concurrently, with no requirement that identifiable harm be established before either is triggered.
TASMANIA’S DRAFT BILL NOT AS SEVERE AS VICTORIA’S LAW
The draft bill is not as severe as Victoria’s Conversion Practices Prohibition Act 2021.
Unlike Victoria’s law – which advocacy groups have since promoted as a model to the United Kingdom and Europe – the Tasmanian draft exempts religious teaching, prayer that does not seek to change a person’s orientation or identity, and parental conversations.
In Victoria, prayer itself can constitute a conversion practice.
However, the proposed Tasmanian exemptions are narrower than they appear.
ACCUSER CAN BE ANONYMOUS AND HARM NEED NOT BE PROVED
The bill permits a pastor to state what scripture teaches.
It does not permit a pastor to pray in hope that the teaching takes effect.
Parents may tell their children what they believe; they may not seek to persuade.
The line between permissible religious expression and criminal conduct runs through the question of intent – and intent is not a shield in a system where the accuser is anonymous, harm need not be proved, and silence is not permitted.
TASMANIAN DRAFT BILL CLASSIFIES PASTORAL CONVERSATIONS AS CHILD ABUSE
A child abuse charge that requires no proof of injury can be triggered by an anonymous complaint against a parent who cannot remain silent.
That is what this draft bill proposes.
Public submissions close July 31. For a bill that would reclassify pastoral conversations as child abuse without requiring proof of injury, it has attracted remarkably little public attention.
That is of concern.
THE AUSTRALIAN CHRISTIAN LOBBY’S VIEW
Australian Christian Lobby CEO Michelle Pearse told Vision Radio: “It’s really about time that we stop passing these laws because we know they’re redundant, they don’t do anything.”
“There’s this myth that these terrible conversion practices happen where people are taken into centres and given lobotomies or whatever to try to force them not to be gay or not to be trans.”
“But that’s not what this law is aimed towards doing. That’s the story they tell.”
“What this law aims at doing is restricting anybody from having a conversation with somebody who’s struggling with their sexuality or gender identity to advise them to accept their gender — or if it’s a Christian conversation, to actually help someone — to live a Christian sexual ethic, to live that out.”
PROPOSED LAW RESTRICTS DOCTORS AND PASTORS
“This affects medical practitioners. We saw [child psychiatrist] Jillian Spencer and how she was treated up in Queensland when she refused to give puberty blockers to a boy who wanted to transition.”
(Dr. Spencer was fully cleared of any wrongdoing last week.)
“This restricts medical practitioners, psychiatrists, psychologists, even GPs from being able to advise somebody against changing their gender.”
“It restricts pastors from being able to pray for their congregants who might be struggling with homosexuality or gender issues.”
COUNSELLORS, FRIENDS AND FAMILIES ALSO TARGETED
“It affects counsellors. Naturally, even counsellors that don’t hold our views in terms of gender and sexual ethic still might see that somebody who’s wanting to change their gender is doing so because of reasons other than the fact that they were born in the wrong body.”
“Even secular counsellors are restricted from having any conversation that alludes to discouraging somebody from changing their gender.”
“This includes friends and family as well.”
“THIS IS A HUGE AFFRONT TO TRADITIONAL AUSTRALIAN FREEDOMS”
“It’s a huge affront to freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion,” Ms. Pearse declared.
“The bottom line is that we want to help people that want help.”
“If somebody comes to your church or a friend comes to you seeking advice on how to live according to a Christian sexual ethic or they’re confused about their gender, you want to be able to have that conversation to help them.”
“That’s a loving thing to do, to actually help them to accept the body that they were born in, and to help them with temptations they may be sensing, help them how to deal with those temptations.”
“So this [proposed anti-conversion law] is seriously crossing the line.”
“BILL IS LIKELY TO PASS, SO OUR AIM IS TO WEAKEN IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE”
“Unfortunately with the numbers and with the kind of the moderate influence within the Liberal Party in Tasmania and Liberal and Greens share the government, it’s likely to pass,” the ACL boss conceded.
“So we’re in the game of just trying to amend the law, to water it down, to protect freedom of religion, to prevent medical practitioners”
“There has been some [anti-conversion] bills that have passed in other states that really do nothing.”
“So that’s what we want this law to do.”
“If it’s going to pass, we’ll try to weaken it.”
“Let’s make it a law that really does nothing especially one that doesn’t affect religious freedom and freedom of speech.”
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