Christian leaders have warned that religious freedoms in Australia are under increasing threat after the discharge of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) highly anticipated report on faith-based schools on Thursday.
The subject of widespread public commentary within the weeks leading as much as its release, the report included the ALRC’s expected advice to the Federal Government that the Sex Discrimination Act be amended to remove exemptions for faith-based schools from laws making it illegal to expel or fire LGBTI+ students and staff based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
While LGBTQI+ groups have urged the federal government to implement the ALRC’s recommendations, the report has been condemned by faith groups as one other example of the erosion of spiritual freedoms.
A coalition of greater than twenty Christian, Muslim, and Jewish organisations sent a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late last week urging him to reject the report’s recommendations, writing that removing the exemptions would “prevent the overwhelming majority of faith-based schools from preferring individuals who share and authentically live out their faith” and potentially “extinguish their distinct and authentic character”.
The Australian Christian Schools Alliance (AACS) called the report “a direct attack on faith and freedom of belief in Australia” and warned that adopting the recommendations would mean that “Christian education as we all know it can stop to exist”.
Labelling it “a line within the sand moment not only for Christian schools, but for all people of religion and for the principle of spiritual freedom across Australia”, AACS Executive Officer Vanessa Chen said, “If these ALRC recommendations are adopted, it means the federal government can tell Christian schools who we will employ, what we will consider and teach.”
“It sets a scary precedent, and the query Australians must ask is ‘who’s next’? Will they dictate to some other religious group or organisation what they will consider?”
Saying that the problem was not about discrimination, Ms Chen said it was about the fitting of fogeys to decide on a college that was aligned with their values and beliefs.
Polling released by the AACS within the fortnight leading as much as the report’s release showed that an awesome majority of Australians think schools should find a way to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and values of the institution, with a Compass Polling survey of 1,713 adults finding that 80% of respondents believed that schools should find a way to rent and fire teachers based on their religious belief and behavior.
However, the Federal Government is under growing pressure from lobby groups to fulfil its pre-election promise to remove the exemptions and implement a separate religious discrimination bill. The issue of spiritual freedom has also increasingly turn out to be a hot-button topic within the culture wars after the previous Coalition government didn’t pass proposed laws that will have enshrined protections for religious belief and expression. Concerns have only been exacerbated by recent moves to pass latest laws around misinformation and hate speech that religious groups say threaten the place of religion in society.
In an opinion piece published in The Australian, a serious national newspaper, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, warned that the report was the most recent sign that the power of Australians to “gather, speak freely, pray together and undertake works of service for others” was being reduced “slice by slice”, and called political leaders to return together to guard religious freedoms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sought to defuse attacks from either side of the talk, announcing that he would only proceed with any amendments to the Act if Labor received bipartisan support from the Federal Opposition.
”I feel Australians don’t desire to see the culture wars and the division on the market. I would like this to be a possibility for unity going forward, and that is why we have provided the laws to the opposition,” Mr Albanese said.
However, each the Coalition and minor parties rejected attempting to bypass normal procedures or debate over the laws.
”With the Greens and independents, there’s a solid progressive majority in parliament to get this done now and it’s a tragedy to observe Labor throw this likelihood away,” David Shoebridge, justice spokesman for the Australian Greens, said.
“We can stop students being discriminated against because they’re queer or trans.”
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said that the laws would wish to progress through parliament like several other laws, including facing the scrutiny of a Senate committee if needed.
”Concerns have been raised by the Christian, Catholic, and Islamic schools they usually needs to be addressed,” Miss Ley said.
