Christian schools call upon the Victorian Government to amend the extreme Change and Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Bill.
“The types of practices this Bill wants to prohibit is unbelievable. It does much more than ban coercive gay conversion practices – which nobody supports - and proposes making prayer and ‘conversations with a community leader’ a criminal offence!” said Vanessa Cheng of the Australian Association of Christian Schools.
“School leaders and parents across the State are very concerned that this Bill could prevent them from encouraging a child to love the body they were born with, obtain appropriate medical advice, or teach a faith-based sexuality ethic,” said Mark Spencer of Christian Schools Australia.
“Parents must have the freedom to raise their children in accordance with their values and beliefs on these highly personal topics,” said Mrs Cheng.
Even more concerning is the wide-ranging powers in the Bill given to the Equal Opportunity Commission to initiate its own investigations based on anonymous complaints and ‘re-educate’ people or organisations who hold a different view about these matters.
We urge all Victorian parliamentarians to listen to the concerns of our school community and fix this deeply flawed Bill.
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