Australia’s Tasmanian Lower House Approves Ban on Conversion Practices Targeting LGBT People

The lower house of parliament in the Australian state of Tasmania approved an amended bill banning conversion practices targeting LGBT people in Hobart on October 29, 2026. The official bill record shows that Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff’s proposal has moved to the Legislative Council, the upper house. As of November 2, it has not become law.

The proposal concerns conduct intended to change, suppress or eradicate a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity, regardless of consent. The notes accompanying the introduced bill provide exemptions for professional healthcare delivered in good faith and identity exploration. Expressing religious beliefs, praying or having a family conversation does not, of itself, constitute a conversion practice.

According to Pulse Tasmania, MPs removed a provision making employers criminally liable for employees’ offences. Amendments also address the threshold for starting investigations and consideration of religious freedom, parental rights and children’s rights in a review after five years.

The Greens, Labor, some Liberals and independent MPs supported the bill. Equality Tasmania spokesperson Rodney Croome said the ban should protect LGBT people from harm; his position appears in the Tasmanian Times.

Opponents dispute the ban’s scope. According to ABC, Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Guy Barnett considered the bill an overreach. Women Speak Tasmania’s Isla MacGregor called it a threat to free speech and sought prior scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

Uránia previously covered the dispute over this bill and critics’ concerns.