Legislation to allow convictions for homosexual offences to be extinguished has passed the NSW parliament, following in the footsteps of Victoria.
The private member’s bill, introduced by Liberal Coogee MP Bruce Notley-Smith, seeks to address convictions from before 1984, when homosexuality was illegal in NSW, by allowing those convicted to apply for it to be expunged, as long as the other party to the act was consenting.
It is not known how many were convicted as many of the records have not been digitised, and it is for this reason that the process will be by application, Notley-Smith told Guardian Australia last month.
Notley-Smith says the legislation is important because it will finally say “these people should never have been convicted – it was wrong”.
“And to recognise the devastation it’s had on their lives, albeit very late in the day we can correct some of the wrongs of the past,” he said.
Standing orders were suspended on Thursday to allow debate on the bill, and it was passed in the legislative assembly without amendments. Both major parties had expressed their support that morning.
“This measure is long overdue and it recognises the hurt and anguish experienced by those who were convicted of consensual homosexual acts that are now no longer criminal offences,” the premier, Mike Baird, said in a statement.
