A bill to expunge the historical convictions of gay men charged with homosexual activity has been introduced to Parliament.

The Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill was announced in February by Justice Minister Amy Adams.

It will set up a system where men charged with consensual homosexual conduct (or their families) under old laws can apply to have those convictions wiped from the record.

CAMERON BURNELL/FAIRFAX NZ Justice Minister Amy Adams hopes the bill will address some of the stigma suffered by those who were charged with homosexual activity.

The Justice Ministry believes there are around 1000 of these men still alive.

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"The tremendous hurt and stigma suffered by those who were affected can never be fully undone, but I hope that this Bill will go some way toward addressing that," Adams said.

"This Bill introduces the first ever expungement scheme in New Zealand."

"The scheme requires case-by-case assessments of the relevant facts to determine whether the conduct a person was charged with is still unlawful today. The decision will be made by the Secretary for Justice, without the need for a court hearing or for applicants to appear in person."

Homosexual sex was legalised in 1986 after a firestorm of protests and counter-protests, but the convictions under the old law still stand.

The move to expunge the convictions came after a petition was presented to MPs last year.

"This conviction still leads, after 53 years, to self-hatred, worthlessness, unjustified guilt and shame," one man wrote in a submission to Parliament.

Veteran LGBT activist Bill Logan, who was a pivotal figure in the campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in the 1980s, said he felt "gratified" by the move when it was announced in Feburary - but the government owed those convicted more than an apology.

"If someone was going to have a life where they were could expect an ordinary average income, with ordinary average results like home ownership and so on - but instead they were sent to jail for three months then unemployed for two years and then finally got a job right at the bottom of the social pyramid, and felt that for the rest of their lives .... clearly just in monetary terms they are owed a great deal of money," Logan said.

"Now if you add to that all the pain suffering that was caused - which can be shown in the fact that a great many of them suicided - then they are owed huge amounts of money in compensation."

"We can always find plenty of money to bail out banks when they collapse. But we can't seem to find money for the actual social debts that we have for being evil to people."

Prime Minister Bill English ruled out compensation when the move was announced.

Similar bills in the United Kingdom did not include compensation but Germany's did, with $44.5 million earmarked for compensation.

The bill will likely have its first reading within the next few weeks.