Page 2227 - Week 07 - Thursday, 27 August 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
for Business and Regulatory Services and Minister for Seniors and Veterans) (12.22): Earlier this week I signed the instrument which commences the operations of the fifth bill passed during this term of government that responded to the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The pieces of legislation have been core to the work of this government over the past four years. They have not been without controversy; they have not been without opposition from people or institutions in this Assembly, across the ACT and in other parts of Australia. But each one has been the right action for us to take.
Each one has weighed a range of rights and practices, including practices held by people of faith. They have each considered human rights and the values and the compassion held by the people of Canberra. Additionally and importantly, they have given weight, additional priority, to those who are most vulnerable—our children.
Those bills arose from the fact that we have grown as a society. We realise now that things that were done in the past have had a devastating impact on young people. That has not simply lasted a few days or months, or even years; it has impacted, and continues to do so, for decades.
In considering those bills in the face of some of the individual and institutional opposition, we affirmed in this place that we have grown in our understanding of humanity. We have grown in our understanding of the way lives can be traumatised. We have grown in our commitment and our resolve to say, “No more.” That is why this bill is so important.
Like all government bills in the ACT, today’s bill has been subject to a careful process of scrutiny to ensure that it is compatible with the ACT Human Rights Act. This process requires that any limitations on human rights must be reasonable and demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society. In this case, human rights have been a key consideration from the outset.
Importantly, the core aim of prohibiting conversion practices is to protect the human rights of LGBTIQ individuals to equality and non-discrimination to ensure that they are not subject to practices that cause long-lasting harm, simply because of their sexuality or gender identity.
In developing the current bill, careful attention was given to the approach taken in Queensland, which bans a broader scope of practices but focuses on conversion practices conducted as part of a health service. We have narrowed the scope of practices in this bill, but it is clear from the evidence in the accounts of survivors that conversion practices now occur largely outside formal health settings and are more likely to occur in informal contexts. It was not appropriate for us to ignore this dimension.
Prohibiting conversion practices necessarily engages the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief. This right is protected in section 14 of the Human Rights Act and is drawn from article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right is fundamental in our democratic society, and engaging this right must be rigorously justified.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video