CONVERSION PRACTICES
409. Hon SOPHIA MOERMOND to the minister representing the
Minister for Health:
I
refer the minister to the response to question without notice 893, asked by Hon
Alison Xamon on 10 September 2020, in
which the then parliamentary secretary to the then Minister for Mental Health
confirmed the McGowan government's commitment to implementing
the national code of conduct for healthcare workers here in WA, and to applying
it in regard to those practising gender conversion therapy. At the time, the
parliamentary secretary noted that the legislation was still being drafted.
(1)
Can the minister update the house on the current status of any such
legislation?
(2) Can he
identify the manner in which the national code might apply to those engaged in
the provision of gender conversion therapy?
Hon KYLE
McGINN replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. This answer was provided to the Minister for
Mental Health representing the Minister for Health.
(1) The drafting of bills for
introduction is a decision of cabinet and is cabinet-in-confidence.
(2) The national
code will provide a set of minimum standards against which to assess whether a healthcare
worker's conduct, in the event of a complaint or investigation,
constitutes a breach of the code and poses a serious risk to public health and
safety. This includes breaches of provisions of the code that a healthcare
worker must not make claims about the efficacy of treatment or services if
those claims cannot be substantiated, and requires that a healthcare worker
must provide only services or treatments to clients that are designed to
maintain or improve a client's health and wellbeing.