On Sept. 5, Michael Daley, attorney general of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, reaffirmed the ban on praying over those who are part of the LGBT community.
Daley confirmed during a parliamentary committee hearing that praying for or with individuals with the hopes of them “changing their sexual orientation or gender, that’s against the law.”
The Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024, established on April 4, 2025, criminalizes all forms of “conversion therapies” that treat LGBT people as having a “disorder.” It sentences lawbreakers to a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
“It is intolerable that we have a situation in NSW where children can be told something is wrong with them and that they need to be fixed,” NSW Premier Chris Minns stated
Though the ban does not prevent teaching or practicing religion, it prevents individuals from “performing a ritual, such as an exorcism or prayer-based practice to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity.” This includes conversations parents may have with their children about sexuality.
Daley said in April that these practices are “based on a false ideology that there’s something wrong with same-sex-attracted or gender-diverse people. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Lyle Shelton, the national director of the Family First Australia political party, spoke out against the ban, calling it an act of religious infringement.
“Prayer is at the heart of religious freedom,” Shelton said. “If someone asks for prayer to live in line with their faith, it is an extraordinary overreach for the government to make that illegal.”
Conservative and religious groups also argued that the law could extend and limit freedom of speech.
Immediately after its enactment, NSW churches responded by refusing to comply with the legislation. Several pastors came together and wrote an open letter to Minns and Deputy Premier Prue Car in April. They presented the conservative biblical standpoint on sexuality and gender, boldly stating that they would not stop speaking out against what they saw as immorality and would continue to draw people to the love of Christ that is readily available to all.
The letter states, “It is an inherent part of our calling as Christians to bring the love of Jesus to all people, to those who have been broken by sin, to encourage them to live according to God’s good design and offer them the pastoral help to do so.”
Many Christians and conservatives are continuing to push back on the law, reaffirming the letter’s concluding phrase, “We must obey God rather than men.”
