Women Speak Tasmania

Tag: Conversion-Therapy

  • Opinion: National Guidelines Needed Before Law Reforms on Conversion Practices Bill

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    It is timely, given the election media frenzy over statements made by Warringah candidate Kath Deves on gender medicine for minors, that the Tasmanian Law Reform Institue has released its long awaited final report on proposed legislative reforms on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity conversion practices. It is reasssuring to note that the Tasmanian Law…

  • Tasmania’s Conversion Practices Bill 2024: A Threat to Evidence-Based Care for Children

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    The Tasmanian Government is planning to introduced the Justice Miscellaneous (Conversion Practices) Bill 2024, framing it as a measure to end harmful “conversion therapy.” While no one disputes the need to prevent coercive practices aimed at erasing sexual orientation, this Bill goes much further. By extending its reach to gender identity, it risks creating a…

  • Landmark British report offers insights for Tasmania’s transgender debate

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    A tectonic shift is taking place overseas in the debate over how to treat children that question their gender identity, and there are plenty of lessons to be learned in Tasmania. The UK government commissioned a review into the treatment of gender-diverse children back in 2020, and its full report by UK paediatrician Dr Hilary…

  • First, do not harm

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    I could not agree more with Rodney Croome (Mercury 17 April) that ‘no one should have to endure being told they are fundamentally broken’.  But, equally, I would have thought that it is no great leap for Rodney Croome to understand that no child is born in the wrong body, that no child is broken.…

  • Call on Health Minister to defer debate on Conversion Bill and back push for National Inquiry

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    Women Speak Tasmania (WST) have called on the Health Minister Guy Barnett to defer debate on The Justice Miscellaneous (Conversion Practices) Bill 2024 and back the call from Dr Philip Morris, President of the National Association of Practising Psychiatrists (NAPP) for an independent investigation into treatments being used for vulnerable children struggling with gender dysphoria. WSTs call…

  • Conversion Practices Bill 2024 – Letter to Tasmania MPs

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    Dear Member of Tasmania Parliament, We would like to congratulate you on your success at the recent election and to wish you well as you assume your seat in the Tasmanian Parliament. We would like to alert you to a very important piece of legislation that will be coming up for debate in the near…

  • Fix conversion laws before banning conversion practices

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    Safeguarding Children in Schools Australia and Women Speak Tasmania will be calling on the new Government once elected, to urgently review existing conversion laws before debating any anti conversion Bill put before parliament. Today we have released our Submission to the draft Justice Miscellaneous (Conversion Practices) Bill 2024. In principle, we support laws that prevent…

  • Justice Miscellaneous -Conversion Practices- Bill 2024

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    While commendable in principle, the Government’s proposed Bill intended to ban conversion practices that attempt to change or eradicate the sexual orientation or gender identity of another person, fails to address critical inconsistencies with existing laws regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. In principle, we support laws that prevent conversion practices for sexual orientation, however…

  • Critics come out against sex conversion therapy draft bill

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    The government took criticism from all sides this week when it released the draft of its long-awaited gender conversion therapy bill for public consultation. If passed, the bill would make it a crime, punishable by fines of nearly $30,000 and 18 months’ imprisonment, to conduct practices aimed at changing the sexual orientation of transgender, gay,…

  • Cutting Out Parents put Kids at Risk

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    Should organisations promoting gender affirming care be able to ignore the recommendations of a Royal Commission aimed at keeping kids safe? A Royal Commission Sadly we know all too well in Australia about the horrors of child sexual abuse and the damage it has done to countless children, many of whom are now adults. We…