Source: Human Rights Commission
If a person or organisation has done something to try to change or suppress your sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, or pressured you to do this yourself, you may have experienced conversion practices. People with lived experienced of conversion practices are often called survivors.
There is no evidence that such practices can change sexuality or gender, and numerous studies have shown they can cause significant and long-lasting harm.
Is what happened to me illegal?
As of 15 February 2022, is it a criminal offence to perform conversion practices on someone under the age of 18 or on someone who lacks decision-making capacity. It is also an offence to perform conversion practices on someone 18 years or older where that causes ‘serious harm’.
We can help you figure out if what’s happened to you is an offence under the law, and if so what you want to do about that.
Only conversion practices that occurred on or after 15 February 2022 are covered by the new law.
What should I do next?
Our Information Services team are here to help. They can talk you through options that are available to you, such as contacting the Police if your situation seems like it could meet the threshold of a criminal offence. We can connect you with a range of support services too.
From August 2022 it will also be possible to make a complaint to the Human Rights Commission. This means that a Human Rights Commission mediator can hear your complaint as part of a dispute resolution process.
For more information, you can call free on 0800 496 877 or email [email protected]
