Sydney, Australia
Some of Australia’s most senior religious leaders have appealed to the government of the Australian state of Victoria to hit the pause button on proposed laws that will affect who they can employ.
Meanwhile, Christian school leaders in Tasmania are lobbying the Federal Government to protect religious freedoms as it prepares to introduce its Religious Discrimination Bill.
Victorian State Parliament in Melbourne. PICTURE: Elekhh (licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendments Bill 2021, introduced into Victoria’s state parliament this month, seeks to prevent religious bodies and organisations from discriminating against members of the LGBTQI+ community.
But in an open letter to Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes published in The Age newspaper today, 19 leaders of Christian, Sikh, Jewish and other faiths say the Bill unfairly targets them and their educational institutes. They say the proposed legislation “seeks to go well beyond what might be considered reasonable or healthy in a pluralistic society”.
“In introducing the legislation, the Victorian Government is seeking to dictate how faith communities should run their organisations,” they said. “This gross overreach could see religious organisations being forced to violate their beliefs and values in managing employment matters.”
In a statement in September, 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.”
A response from Symes in relation to the letter was not received at the time of publication.
The proposed laws have already sent shock waves through Christian school organisations in the state.
Both the Australian Association of Christian Schools and Christian Schools Australia have voiced their concerns and called on the government to amend the Bill.
Private polling by the CSA and AACS last month found 78 per cent of Victorians across the mainstream political spectrum supported current employment practices in Christian schools.
Sight reported earlier this month the results showed 77 per cent of Labor voters, 89 per cent of Liberals, 92 per cent of Nationals supporters and 56 per cent of Greens support the right of religious schools to choose staff according to their specific criteria.
Vanessa Cheng, executive officer with AACS, said at the time they were disappointed that the feedback they provided in earlier stakeholder consultations to the Department of Justice and Attorney-General’s Department weren’t taken into account before the final version of the Bill was put before Parliament.
She said they were still hopeful that “some sensible amendments” might still be proposed by the opposition that can be considered by the government.
And Mark Spencer, director of public policy at CSA told Sight the poll results showed Australians understood that in a tolerant, multi-faith society, schools should be allowed the freedom to teach their values and beliefs regardless of religion.
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Signatories to the open letter agree.
They say the new laws, if passed as they currently stand, will severely compromise the ability of religious schools to employ people consistent with their beliefs and faith, and in the expectation that employees will conduct themselves accordingly.
“Parents [that] send their children to religious schools expect that the school’s environment faithfully represents the religious ethos in every respect, including all teachers and staff,” they said.
“With this Bill, the ability for schools to meet this legitimate expectation will be severely compromised because, in effect, the Bill erroneously disconnects religious belief from conduct that is consistent with this belief.”
Further, they say the legislation, if passed, would also restrict religious organisations in ways that other sectors of society aren’t, including Government bodies and political parties.
They argue those groups are able to make employment decisions based on their values, and questioned why – under the new Bill – religious organisations are not being afforded the same rights.
Among the signatories are Bishop Paul Barker from the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne, Archbishop Peter Comensoli of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Adel Salman from the Islamic Council of Victoria, Makarand Bhagwan from the Hindu Council of Australia, Jasbir Singh Suropada of the Sikh Interfaith Council of Victoria, and Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowan from the Institute for Judaism and Civilization, Melbourne.
They have urged Symes and the State Government to “pause before pushing through such a drastic change” saying it will upset the current balance that is fair and workable, while calling for “meaningful consultations” with faith groups and other stakeholders.
In Tasmania, Christian school leaders have met with representatives from Senator Jacquie Lambie’s office at the Burnie Campus of Leighland Christian School on November 15th for a Religious Freedom Breakfast. Professor Patrick Parkinson, chair of Freedom for Faith, was guest speaker at the event and spoke about the importance of protecting religious freedom to people of faith and the notable absence of religious belief from Australia’s human rights protection framework.
While welcoming the Religious Discrimination Bill as a good start, he emphasised the importance of seeking commitments from both major political parties to further reforms to support the ongoing viability of the unique Christian school model in Australia.
Cheng said in a statement that parents have the right to choose a faith- based education for their children and the federal Religious Discrimination Bill will help preserve this choice for future generations of Australian families.
