Parliament has tonight unanimously passed a bill allowing convictions of men for homosexual offences to be wiped from the records.
The Criminal Records (Expungement of Convictions for Historical Homosexual Offences) Bill allows the expungement of the criminal records of men convicted for homosexual acts under the 1961 Crimes Act which outlawed male sex whether it was consensual or not.
The Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 legalised consensual sex between men aged 16 and older.
Applications for expungement may be made by the convicted men or by a representative if the person with convictions has died.
The expungement bill will pass its third and final reading in Parliament tonight.
The bill was introduced last year by former Justice Minister Amy Adams when Parliament apologised to the men convicted for homosexual acts.
There are still around 1000 men carrying the stigma of these convictions.
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