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.

Shadow health spokeswoman Catherine King and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

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.