NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has expressed support for moves by the Victorian Labor government to ban so-called "gay conversion therapy", indicating he would take the issue to the Council of Australian Governments for a national solution.

Mr Hazzard said he would be watching closely what happens in Victoria in the next 12 months, but that the NSW government is "on the same page" as the Andrews government in regard to the need to "protect the rights and also the mental health of all members of the community".

The Australian Psychological Society is strongly opposed to any form of mental health practice that treats homosexuality as a disorder, or seeks to change a person’s sexual orientation, chief executive Frances Mirabelli said.

Mr Hazzard said he thought the issue should be addressed nationally. "In my view it shouldn’t be something which one state only does, because these issues affect communities right across Australia," he said. "Hopefully we will be able to have further discussions at the Council of Australian Governments with health ministers if and when the election is out of the way and we can have substantive non-political discussions."

Sydney man Chris Csabs is a survivor of gay conversion therapy whose Change.org petition calling for the practice to be banned has gathered more than 55,000 signatures. He said all states and territories should work together to ensure a national response takes place. Read more via Sydney Morning Herald

Listen to Chris Csabs speak about his experience on the podcast The Quickly