Right: Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie called for a ban on the wearing of the all-enveloping burqa in Australia.
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Background information
(The information on the different types of traditional Muslim attire for women is taken from a BBC information piece. It can be accessed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/24118241
The information on the wearing of niqabs and burkas around the world has been abbreviated from a Wikipedia entry titled 'Burka'. The full text of this entry can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burqa)
Niqabs, burkas and hijabs
There are two forms of traditional Muslim dress which obscure the face. One is the nijab. The niqab is a veil for the face that leaves the area around the eyes clear. However, it may be worn with a separate eye veil. It is worn with an accompanying headscarf. The burka is the most concealing of all Islamic veils. It is a one-piece veil that covers the face and body, often leaving just a mesh screen to see through.
In addition to these there is the hijab. The word hijab describes the act of covering up generally but is often used to describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women. These scarves come in many styles and colours. The type most commonly worn in the West covers the head and neck but leaves the face clear.
The wearing of burkas and niqabs around the world
Afghanistan
The full Afghan burka covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region about the eyes, which is covered by a concealing net or grille.
Before the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, the burka was infrequently worn in cities. While they were in power, the Taliban required the wearing of a burka in public. Officially, it is not required under the present Afghan regime, but local warlords still enforce it in southern Afghanistan. Burka use in the remainder of Afghanistan is variable and is observed to be gradually declining in Kabul. Due to political instability in these areas, women who might not otherwise be inclined to wear the burka must do so as a matter of personal safety.
India
Among the Muslim population in India, the burka is common in many areas. The obligation for a woman to wear a burka is dependent on her age: young, unmarried women or young, married women in their first years of marriage are required to wear the burka. However, after this the husband usually decides if his wife should continue to wear a burka.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, the use of the burka is primarily in Pashtun territories along the border areas, especially in FATA and to a great extent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. However, in much of the rest of the country, its use has greatly declined over time.
Israel
Some years ago, a group of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish women in Israel began donning the Burka as a symbol of piety. Following its adoption by Bruria Keren, an estimated 600 Jewish women have taken to wearing the veil.
According to The Jerusalem Post, a Member of the Knesset is intending to put forward a bill to 'prohibit the wearing of a full-body and face covering for women. [The] bill would not differentiate between Muslims and Jews'.
Syria
Syria is a constitutionally secular state and discourages the wearing of traditional hijab. Ghiyath Barakat, Syria's minister of higher education, announced that the government would ban students, teachers or staff from covering faces at universities, stating that the veils ran counter to secular and academic principles of the country.
United Kingdom
This outfit is causing debate in the United Kingdom. A senior member of the previous government, Jack Straw, asked Muslim women from his constituency to remove any veils covering their faces during face-to-face meetings with him. He explained to the media that this was a request, not a demand, and that he made sure that a woman staffer remained in the room during the meeting. A media outcry followed. Some Muslim groups said that they understood his concerns, but others rejected them as prejudicial.
A poll in 2011 indicated that 66 percent of British people supported banning the burka in all public places. However, a ban on burkas has been ruled out by the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat government and previous Labour government.
France
Wearing the burka has not been allowed in French public schools since 2004 when it was judged to be a religious symbol like the Christian cross. This ruling was the application of an established 1905 law that prohibits students and staff from wearing any clearly visible religious symbols. The law relates to the time where the secular French state took over control of most schools from the Catholic Church. It does not apply to private or religious schools.
This was followed on 22 June 2009, when the president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that burqas are 'not welcome' in France, commenting that 'In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity'. The French National Assembly appointed 32 lawmakers from right- and left-wing parties to a six-month fact-finding mission to look at ways of restricting its use. On 26 January 2010, the commission reported that access to public services and public transport should be barred to those wearing the burka. On Tuesday 13 July 2010 the Assembly overwhelmingly approved a bill banning burkas and niqabs.
On 14 September 2010, the French Senate overwhelmingly approved a ban on burkas in public, with the law becoming effective beginning on 11 April 2011. When the measure was sent in May to the parliament they said "Given the damage it produces on those rules which allow the life in community, ensure the dignity of the person and equality between sexes, this practice, even if it is voluntary, cannot be tolerated in any public place".
The ban is officially called, 'the bill to forbid concealing one's face in public.' It refers neither to Islam nor to veils. Officials insist the law against face-covering is not discriminatory because it would apply to everyone, not just Muslims. They cite a host of exceptions, including motorcycle helmets, or masks for health reasons, fencing, skiing or carnivals.
Belgium
On 29 April 2010, the lower house of parliament in Belgium passed a bill banning any clothing that would obscure the identity of the wearer in places like parks and in the street. The proposal was passed without dissent and now goes to the Senate. BBC News estimates that 'Only around 30 women wear this kind of veil in Belgium, out of a Muslim population of around half a million.'
Italy
In Italy, by an anti-terrorism Law passed in 1975, it is forbidden to wear any dress that hides the face of a person. In May 2010, it was reported that a Tunisian woman was fined ?500 for this offence.
Netherlands
On 27 January 2012, a law was accepted by the Dutch cabinet, banning any clothing that would hide the wearer's identity. Fines for wearing a burka in public could go up to 380 euros. In October 2012, this law was mitigated by the succeeding cabinet to pertain only to public transport, health care, education and government buildings, rather than all public spaces.
Australia
In 2010, Australian Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi called for the burka to be banned in Australia, branding it 'un-Australian'. The ban did not go ahead but debate about the burka continues.
In 2011, Carnita Matthews of Sydney was sentenced to six months jail for making a statement accusing a police officer of attempting to forcibly lift her niqab, which news sources initially referred to incorrectly as a burka.
The officer had pulled her over for a random breath test and then ticketed her for a licence infringement. Matthews allegedly then submitted a signed complaint to a police station while wearing a niqab.
Judge Clive Jeffreys overturned the conviction in June 2011, citing what he thought there were differences between the signature on her license and that on the complaint. She then proceeded to seek legal costs.
On 4 July 2011, New South Wales became the first Australian state to pass laws allowing police to demand that burkas (and other head gear such as motorcycle helmets) be removed when asking for identification.
In October 2014, the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate at Parliament House in Canberra decreed that female visitors wearing a face covering would have to sit in separated glassed-in areas of the public gallery. Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated that he opposed this restriction.