Autistic Collaboration Trust -  Ban of all conversion therapies  - Presentation of our submission
Channel: Autistic Collaboration
Date: 14/09/2021

Although the government’s Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill is welcome progress, it should be extended to ban all conversion therapy in Aotearoa New Zealand, say members of the autistic community.

In a submission to the Justice Select Committee, members from New Zealand autistic community groups say while they fully supported a ban on conversion practices targeting sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, protections should be extended to include all New Zealanders subject to these practices, especially neuro-diverse communities among whom conversion therapies also cause considerable harm.

The submission, prepared by Te Hapori Whai Takiwātanga o Aotearoa (AutismAotearoa.org), an initiative of the Autistic Collaboration Trust (AutCollab.org), notes that a significant population being treated by such therapies in Aotearoa New Zealand today is autistic children. Conversion therapies remain widely used to try to radically modify the behaviour of autistic children and to deny autistic coping mechanisms for sensory overload.

The Bill as drafted proposes to outlaw Conversion Therapy as it relates to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

This form of conversion therapy is, historically, a by-product of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) from the United States, which was developed using experiments on autistic children. Its pioneers also claimed it might ‘cure’ ‘heteronormative deviance’ (homosexuality being a psychological disorder in medical literature until the mid-1970s) – a claim this Bill acknowledges ought to become criminal.

Although progress has been made around the world outlawing Gay Conversion Therapy, ABA continues to be practised as a treatment in Aotearoa New Zealand for autistic people, especially children, despite the harm it produces.


The autistic community welcomes the protections in the Bill for the Rainbow community, but is urging Parliament to be more inclusive. A more complete definition of conversion therapy would extend protections being advanced for Rainbow communities to neuro-diverse communities that continue to endure significant harm from these practices.

The related live-stream, including Q&A: https://www.facebook.com/JUSCNZ/videos/269689958156914/?extid=NS-UNK-UNK-UNK-IOS_GK0T-GK1C. It was very encouraging to hear the level of support for our submission from Elizabeth Kerekere.


The full text of our submission: https://autcollab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Submission-in-relation-to-the-Conversion-Practices-Prohibition-Legislation-Bill-1.1.pdf.



From today we will start counting the days until all forms of conversion therapies are banned in Aotearoa New Zealand: https://autismaotearoa.org/countdown-to-a-ban-of-all-forms-of-conversion-therapy/.


More information: https://autismaotearoa.org/include-all-conversion-therapies-in-legislative-ban/.