Federal Labor will move to crack down on gay conversion therapy if Bill Shorten wins government, vowing to work with the states and territories to ban the discredited practice.

One week after The Sunday Age revealed sections of the Victorian Liberal Party were pushing for new laws allowing health practitioners to offer “conversion” counselling, Labor has given its strongest signal yet that it would seek to make such “therapies” illegal. At present, the only state with specific legislation attempting to stamp out gay conversion in clinical settings is Victoria, which now has a Health Complaints Commissioner with the power to investigate and ban unregistered practitioners – including anyone who treats homosexuality as a disorder.

“Gay conversion therapy is discredited and dangerous,” Labor MP Catherine King told Fairfax Media on Saturday.

“As the federal shadow health minister, I urge all jurisdictions to follow Victoria’s lead and ban gay conversion therapy. If this issue isn’t resolved before the next election, and I’m lucky enough to serve as health minister afterwards, it’ll be a personal priority for me.”

A federally driven crackdown would be significant in Australia, where attempts to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity continue to exist but have largely been driven underground.

As a Fairfax Media investigation revealed last month, the practice remains hidden in evangelical churches and ministries, discussed in the private offices of counsellors and chaplains, or pushed out through online courses and mentors attempting to “pray away the gay.” Read more via The Age