Updated: 6pm (AEDT)
Sydney, Australia
Christian schools will meet with Victorian Government representatives in two weeks to state their case on proposed legislation to protect LGBTIQ+ people from discrimination in employment.
The State Government says its planned reforms will “strike a balance” between freedom of religion and equality for the LGBTIQ+ community, to prevent schools from sacking or refusing to hire people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The city of Melbourne, capital of the state of Victoria where the State Government this week announced it would pass reforms to to prevent schools from sacking or refusing to hire people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. PICTURE: Denise Jans/Unsplash
In a statement on Thursday, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said people should not have to hide who they are to keep their job.
“We’re closing this unfair, hurtful gap in our laws so that Victoria’s LGBTIQ+ community won’t have to pretend to be someone they’re not, just to do the job they love,” Symes said.
“These laws strike the right balance between protecting the LGBTIQ+ community from discrimination and supporting the fundamental rights of religious bodies and schools to practice their faith.”
Vanessa Cheng, executive officer of the Australian Association of Christian Schools, said the State Government had invited them to a meeting in two weeks to discuss the issues involved.
“We have been invited by the government to meet with them. We really appreciated them reaching out to us to talk through what this change will mean for our schools and to give our perspective,” Cheng said. “I know that they have invited other groups as well, so we welcome that.”
The State Government says religious organisations and schools will be able to make employment decisions based on an employee’s religious beliefs “where these are critical to the job, such as a religious studies teacher”.
But Cheng said AACS schools don’t separate the religious and educational aspects of school, and that all its staff are Christian.
“All subjects are taught through a Christian world-view, so whether it’s the maths teacher, or the science teacher, or the outdoor education teacher, they’re all involved in the spiritual formation of our children; they pray with the children, they talk about their faith, they integrate it into their lessons.
“So that’s different to how the government might be viewing it, but – and this is what we’ll be saying to the government as well – we want to see the details around how they define what an inherent part of the role is. That’s key for us.”
Cheng also said whether Christian schools were willing to employ anyone from the LGBTIQ+ community was up to them, but each school would have a statement of belief which would be clearly stated in job advertisements and which staff would be required to uphold as part of their condition of employment.
“We are more concerned about your faith and what your beliefs are and that that’s in accordance with what the school believes. Each case is different. It depends on the individual and if they’re willing to live out and uphold the beliefs of the school.
“Those beliefs are always really transparent. We don’t try and hide what we believe.”
The State Government’s proposed legislation also aims to prevent religious schools that receive government funding to provide services, from refusing to provide those services to people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Tasmania already has similar legislation while the Federal Government is currently considering the introduction of its Religious Discrimination Bill later this year.
Christian Schools Australia has stated it will oppose the legislation. Director of Public Policy at ACS, Mark Spencer, described the latest proposals as “farcical” and the latest attack on people of faith in Victoria.
Spencer said in a statement on Thursday that Victoria’s Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes will invite courts and tribunals “to determine, retrospectively, who faith-based organisations including…Christian schools can employ in different roles within the organisation”.
“The Victorian Government’s claims today are farcical.”
He said the proposed legislation could “fundamentally change the nature of Christian schools” and warned there were wider implications that could affect all Victorians of faith.
“The Attorney-General claims that the proposed changes will have ‘no impact on schools’ ability to convey their religious beliefs to students’, but then goes on to say that it is only where a Court or Tribunal consider it ‘appropriate’ that those schools can hire staff based on the person’s belief,” he said.
Cheng, meanwhile, said the AACC will be working closely with CSA on the issue “because we share a similar educational ethos”.
“CSA schools also only hire Christian staff, so we will be working closely together to bring those views to the government,” she said.
