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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-08-29 Daily Xml
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Conversion Practices

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (14:51): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question without notice to the Attorney-General on the topic of conversion practices.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS: After the 2021 Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics issued a statement of regret for failing to ask meaningful questions to properly count members of the LGBTI community. The Albanese government this week announced that they will not be making any changes to the 2026 Census to ask about gender, sexual orientation or variations in sex characteristics. According to Equality Australia:

The federal government has betrayed LGBTQI+ people around Australia who will again be rendered invisible in 2026 because the census won't ask appropriate questions about who they are and how they live.

This fortnight, federal Labor have also broken their promise to deal with discrimination in religious schools by deferring the issue once again to another session of parliament.

At the 2022 state election in South Australia, the Labor Party promised that, if elected, it would make sure conversion practices do not occur in this state. In June 2022, after the Malinauskas government was elected, the Attorney-General told the Sunday Mail:

Labor remains committed to ensuring this practice does not occur in South Australia and is working to deliver on another election promise.

My questions therefore to the Attorney-General are:

1. Given federal Labor has broken its promises to the LGBTI community, is the Malinauskas government's lack of action on conversion practices just another broken Labor promise?

2. When will the LGBTI community see action on this issue?

3. Will the Attorney-General follow this up with the Premier's Delivery Unit to make sure this reform is delivered during this term of parliament?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:53): I thank the honourable member for his question and his very strong advocacy in this area that has spanned all levels of government in Australia. I have previously informed parliament, and I can inform again, that this is an area, in terms of conversion practices, that spans a number of portfolio areas. I can assure the honourable member that work continues on this and I am more than happy that when there is something further to add I will inform the honourable member about the status of what this government is doing in relation to conversion practices.

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