Compensation for Convictions Under Historical Anti-Gay Laws (Tas)
In November 2025, Tasmania became the first Australian jurisdiction to offer compensation to victims of historical anti-gay laws. This page outlines the compensation scheme and how it is being received, as well as the history of anti-gay laws in Tasmania.
Legislation
The two bills that were passed this week are the Expungement of Historical Offences Amendment Bill 2025 and the Sentencing Amendment (Aggravating Factors) Bill 2025.
History of anti-gay laws in Tasmania
Historically, all states and territories of Australia had criminal laws that made it an offence for a man to engage in consensual sexual activity with another man. South Australia was the first jurisdiction to repeal these laws, in 1975; Tasmania was the last to do so, in 1997.
‘Buggery’ was a criminal offence in Tasmania until 1997. For many years, the offence was punishable by death, with the last execution carried out in 1867. After the death penalty was abolished, the offence carried a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 21 years. This was the highest penalty for homosexual sex anywhere in the developed world.
In the 1960s, campaigns started around Australia to decriminalise homosexuality. During the 1980s and 1990s, there were numerous unsuccessful attempts to decriminalise homosexuality in Tasmania.
In 1994, Tasmanian gay man Nicolas Toonen made a complaint about the laws to the UN Human Rights Committee, which found in his favour. The decision set a global precedent that laws against consensual homosexual activity are a breach of human rights.
Later that year, the Keating government passed Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994, which legalised activity between consenting adults throughout Australia and prohibited laws that arbitrarily interfere with consensual sexual activity in private. However, this Commonwealth legislation did not directly override Tasmania’s criminal laws.
In May 1997, Tasmania passed legislation repealing the legislation that made gay sex an offence. In 2001, Tasmania also repealed a law that criminalised cross-dressing.
The compensation scheme
Under the new compensation scheme, different amounts of compensation will be paid to persons who were charged, found guilty, and imprisoned for the now-defunct offences.
Person charged with offence
A person who was charged with an anti-gay offence will receive $15,000 compensation.
Person found guilty of offence
A person who was found guilty of an anti-gay offence will receive $45,000 compensation.
Person sentenced for offence
A person who received any court-imposed sanction for an anti-gay offence will receive $75,000 compensation. This includes people who were sentenced to imprisonment and people who were subjected to conversion therapy.
Convictions expunged after June 2026
If a person does not have their charge or conviction expunged before 30 June 2026, the amount of compensation they receive will be adjusted to take inflation into account.
Responses to the announcement
The announcement that victims of the discriminatory laws would receive compensation was welcomed by gay rights activists, and the broader community.
However, sadness has been expressed that the move has come too late to provide redress to many victims who suffered pain and trauma, the loss of jobs and family, being involuntarily outted, and even being exiled from the state.
Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff called for further reforms to be made to outlaw gay ‘conversion’ practices and further strengthen the laws against hate crimes directed at LGBT people.
LGBT advocates also called for other Australian states and territories to follow Tasmania’s lead and enact compensation schemes for people who were impacted by anti-gay laws.
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Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.