Australia's Labor government has come under fire from both sides of the ideological divide after comments earlier this month that indicated it was abandoning its controversial proposal for a Religious Discrimination Act.
While addressing a press conference in Western Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was asked for an update on the progress on legislation that would enshrine religious protections separately from existing laws such as the Sex Discrimination Act. Mr Albanese's reply suggested that it would no longer be going ahead during their current term, with the Prime Minister blaming the Federal Opposition for a failure to secure bipartisan support for the bill.
"One of the things I've spoken about is the need for greater social cohesion," Mr Albanese said.
"And the last thing that Australia needs is any divisive debate relating to religion and people's faith ... I don't intend to engage in a partisan debate when it comes to religious discrimination."
The news was greeted with dismay by religious and faith groups, who have been calling for greater protections for religious freedom and expression, saying that people are facing increasing discrimination for exercising their sincerely held beliefs.
The topic has come under increasing scrutiny after a report from the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) into religious educational institutions and anti-discrimination laws commissioned by the government offered a number of recommendations, including removing section 38 from the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA)—which offers protections for schools and other institutions taking religious beliefs into account when hiring and firing staff.
Faith groups have argued that any changes to the SDA would require the introduction of separate legislation specifically protecting religious freedoms. With the implementation of a separate Act looking increasingly unlikely, they are calling for a moratorium on the proposed changes.
"While it is disappointing that there remains very little protection against discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity, the proposed legislative package had tied religious discrimination legislation to the removal of significant protections for religious freedoms in other laws," Monica Doumit, Director of Public Affairs and Engagement for the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, told The Catholic Weekly.
"So the prime minister's announcement should also mean these protections remain in place. It would be a substantial betrayal of religious communities if the government pushed ahead with repealing religious protections without offering anything in return."
However, a number of progressive and LGBTQ lobby groups, who have long called for amendments to existing discrimination laws that would remove exemptions on the basis of religious belief, have attacked the government over what they are calling a failure to protect LGBTQ teachers and students.
"Under the current Sex Discrimination Act, schools can fire teachers and expel students because of their gender identity or sexuality," Liberty Victoria, a leading civil liberties organisation, said in a press release.
"Social cohesion will only be achieved when LGBTQIA+ people are free to be themselves at school and at work without fear of being fired or expelled."
The Federal Opposition has rebuffed claims that it has not been willing to seek a bipartisan consensus on religious protections, instead blaming the government over what it claims is a lack of consultation with religious and faith groups, and accusing it of an unwillingness to take their concerns into account.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, whose role is responsible for legal affairs and who acts as the government's senior legal adviser, had asked the Opposition to provide a line-by-line response to the proposed legislation, but his Opposition counterpart, Senator Michaela Cash, said that faith groups be involved in the consultation process, allegedly leading to a fractious meeting between the two.
"[Faith groups] have provided line-by-line feedback on the draft bills, and put forward options that would not only protect faith-based schooling, but also address concerns around the drafting of existing provisions on the Commonwealth statute book," Senator Cash wrote in a letter to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
"The Coalition does not intend to bypass or undercut that clear stakeholder feedback, which was provided on a bipartisan basis.
"It is plain that the next step is for the government to redraft its legislation, taking that feedback into account."
