The WA Government has promised to introduce a law that could ban and criminalise prayer, preaching, teaching, pastoral care and parental direction around sexual purity and gender identity – even when the individual has requested assistance. Similar laws have already been passed in several other Australian states.
While the ACL agrees that any form of coercive or forced “conversion therapy” is wrong, this proposed legislation represents a serious overreach. It would violate fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, and parental responsibility, giving the government the power to dictate what can be prayed, taught, or discussed in our homes and churches.
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“Conversion Therapy”: Practices that seek to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.1
The WA Attorney General has publicly committed to introducing a law to ban “conversion therapy” in Western Australia before the end of 20252. The ACL expects this law to closely resemble recent New South Wales and Victorian legislation that removes basic religious freedoms and parental rights.
Criminalising Biblical Teaching, Prayer, Counselling & Parenting about LGBT Issues:
If this law is passed, it could be illegal to pray for someone inside your church or home, for God’s help with transgender confusion or sexual purity in the area of homosexuality. This ban could include parents and ministers of religion, and prayer could be illegal, even if the person directly requests prayer.3
“Any prayer for, and preaching and teaching on, biblical identity and sexuality may only be allowed “…provided they are not targeted towards or directed to change or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity” with total bans on all “religiousbased practices, including counselling, conferences and spiritual deliverance” delivered in the context of “changing or suppressing the individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”4 Parents’ ability to tell the truth to their children may be similarly limited.
(Quotes are directly from current Vic & NSW conversion therapy laws) ”
Penalty:
Maximum penalties in other Australian states include 10-year prison sentences and fines of $132,000 for individuals and $660,00 for churches. We know families in Australia who have already had their child forcibly removed from their home by child protection services and police for the newly classified “abuse” of not actively encouraging their homosexual attraction or gender confusion.
Urgent:
The WA Government has already shown how far it is willing to go to advance radical gender ideology. In 2024, it moved quickly and quietly — even using “emergency” powers — to pass a law allowing anyone, including children, to change the gender on their birth certificate once a year without parental consent.
Now, the Government has committed to introducing another law before the end of 2025: one that could criminalise prayer, preaching, counselling, and parenting related to sexual purity and gender identity. Together, these actions reveal a clear pattern — a Government intent on silencing faith and removing parents from some of the most important decisions in their children’s lives.
