Australian gay rights advocates are pushing for a ban on ‘conversion’ therapy similar to a planned U.S ban on the controversial treatment.

The Ambassadors and Bridge Builders International group are campaigning for gay conversion therapy to be made illegal Australia-wide, reports ABC News.

Anthony Venn-Brown, an outspoken critic of conversion therapy (also called ex-gay or reparative therapy) and founder of Ambassadors and Bridge Builders International estimates that 10 professional organisations offer conversion therapy across Australia.

“[Legislative change] would send a very clear message to young people and also, another thing is that it would be a message to the churches of how far behind they are in their understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Brown told ABC News.

A bill current before the US congress (the Therapeutic Fraud Prevention Act) would classify conversion therapy as a fraudulent practice that would be illegal under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Australian activists seek a similar outright ban on the controversial treatment, which is opposed by every professional health body in Australia including the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

In 2013 Independent member for Sydney Alex Greenwich introduced a motion declaring therapies attempting to turn gay people straight do not work, stigmatise gay men and lesbians and are fundamentally damaging to mental health, reports News Au.com.

A NSW parliamentary committee to examine misleading practices under the banner of Christian faith was established but there has been very little movement at a legislative level since then.