Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022 The Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Act 2022 (Act) prohibits any action to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender. It is unlawful to perform a conversion practice, to arrange for a conversion practice to be performed, or to advertise a conversion practice. In addition to conversion practices being unlawful some are a criminal offence. It is a criminal offence to: • • perform a conversion practice on someone under 18 years old, or someone who lacks the capacity to understand the nature, and foresee the consequences, of decisions relating to their health or welfarex perform a conversion practice on a person of any age where that causes serious harm.xi Conversion practices are still unlawful even when a person seeks them out for themselves. Consent from someone undergoing a conversion practice is not a defence to providing them.xii In cases where a person has sought conversion practices for themselves, they are not party to the offence – which means they cannot be prosecuted.xiii The Act also amends the Human Rights Act 1993 so that conversion practices are within scope of the civil redress and other functions of the Commissionxiv which means it can: • provide support and information to survivors and to those who are consciously or unconsciously contributing to conversion practices • help to mediate and resolve disputes related to conversion practices • help to work out if something may be an offence and provide support for next steps such as reporting. While it is expected that medical healthcare professionals will foster a positive gender healthcare journey, section 5(2)(a) of the Act reaffirms their ability to act within reasonable professional judgement, where that complies with all legal, professional, and ethical standards.xv The Act is not intended to criminalise medical healthcare professionals nor to encourage treatment beyond what a patient is seeking. Rather, gender affirming healthcare is the expected norm in Aotearoa. This approach is already endorsed by the country’s professional medical and psychological associations which have also publicly condemned conversion practices. This is consistent with the Act’s aim to “recognise and prevent harm caused by conversion practices”. How can a survivor report a conversion practice? Depending on the setting and nature of the conversion practice there are three avenues for redress: • 33 • if the person the practice was performed on is under 18 or lacks decision-making capacity, or if the practice has caused serious harm, then survivors can access the criminal pathway • those who have experienced conversion practices in a health setting can also seek redress via the Health and Disability Commission. Civil pathway The Commission can support survivors with a dispute resolution process. Mediation is free, confidential and protects the rights of everyone involved. A tikanga Māori-based process is also available, as are referrals to a variety of support resources and agencies. Common outcomes of dispute resolution processes are an apology, an acknowledgement of the impact of the behaviour, agreement not to do the same thing in the future, a training programme or financial compensation. If mediation is not appropriate or does not result in a satisfactory outcome an application can be made to the Office of Human Rights Proceedings for free legal assistance. Information on the complaint process in available on the Commission’s website at www.tikatangata.org.nz Criminal Pathway If the complaint meets the legal threshold for criminal investigation, survivors may choose to pursue a criminal complaint with police. Making such a complaint can be done by: • calling 111 if someone is in immediate danger or a crime or incident is happening now • calling 105 or using the 105 online form if an incident has already happened and no one is in immediate danger. Police have relationships with groups, such as Victim Support, who provide services that can help the survivor through the process if their complaint is progressed. Through this pathway the person who performed the conversion practice could face a prison term of up to three years. Health and Disability Commission Survivors can use the Health and Disability Commission’s own complaint process to raise instances of conversion practices in healthcare settings. Detailed information is available about this process on their website at www.hdc.org.nz. survivors of any conversion practices (regardless of the severity of harm) can access the civil pathway Conversion Practices Guidance for medical healthcare professionals