Australia introduces contentious religious anti-discrimination legislation

[Eldorado]

"People should not be cancelled or persecuted or vilified because their beliefs are different from someone else's," said Morrison, a devout Pentecostal Christian, while introducing the bill in the parliament's lower house.

Morrison said the legislation would also protect Australians who make "statements of belief" from discrimination laws, but only if those statements do not "threaten, intimidate, harass or vilify a person or group".

Australia's existing Sex Discrimination Act allows schools to expel students or sack teachers for being gay. Morrison pledged in 2018 to reform the legislation.

MSN

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

It’s the perfect piece of legislation - everyone thinks it’s crap. The LGBQTI+ mob see it as grounds for people to discriminate, the Religious Right mob think it’s not strong enough, the Greens think it’s a waste of time, the One Notion Party don’t like it because it excluded their one contribution to the debate, Scotty from Marketing is only submitting it now, the last sitting week of the year and probably the last sitting week before an election in March or May because it was an election promise the last election….

[Mr Walker]

While most of  the states have various similar laws, federal laws overrule state ones and thus make  for consistency across the nation 

Ps a teacher or student cant be removed simply for being gay 

A teacher would have to go against the stated ethos and values of the school

(I don't think a student can be refused entry   for being gay, at all.  Being gay is legal and   it is illegal to discriminate  against it without a good reason ) In the past some have been refused. This may be one of the things which varies from  state to state

 This law would allow religious bodies to employ only those who professed the same basic values and beliefs  as the  organisation.  That's fairly basic common sense   which is applied in many non religious organisations 

The y could then be sacked for ANY failure to meet those values eg for dishonesty, immorality,  or in the case of the captain of the Australian cricket squad, for sending a  picture of his genitals to a consenting adult     

This is no different to employees  being sacked for social media posts which reflect on the  organisation they work for. Today your private life can easily be grounds for dismissal   because it is  no longer private  

http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CanLawRw/2014/8.pdf

Its an interesting legislation, which some see as going too far, and some as not going far enough, but mainly it protects freedom of speech, (which is NOT protected in the Australian constitution) unless that speech is   encouraging hatred violence etc 

ie  Under this law a teacher could not be sacked  for expressing a personal  opinion that homosexuality, or abortion,  or sex before marriage,  is wrong   Right now they theoretically could be, in some states The freedom to express a belief works both ways  Some dont like this law because it permits a person to claim that the other persons way of life is "wrong" or "harmful"   but imagine a world where you CANNOT argue for your own values, or criticise those of another 

The free PRACTICE of religion (including non religion/atheism,   is already legislated for, as is the right to wear any religious dress or icons, which do not endanger health and safety. 

Eg a doctor or nurse may refuse to perform an abortion, but must refer the patient to another doctor who may be willing to do so. 

Some people argue that a doctor should not be allowed to refuse, because abortion is legal ,  but this places one individual and social value/belief , above another 

Edited November 26, 2021 by Mr Walker