Right: Lyle Shelton, a former head of the ACL / Australian Christian Lobby, say, 'A school should be allowed to ensure that they can protect their ethos'.
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Background information
Unless otherwise indicated, the information printed below has been abbreviated from a Wikipedia entry titled 'Freedom of religion in Australia'. The full text can be accessed at
Freedom of religion in Australia is allowed in practice and protected to varying degrees through the constitution and legislation at the Federal, State and Territory level. Australia is a secular country with legislated separation of church and state and with no state religion. The nation has over 13.5 million people who identify as religious and 7.1 million who identify as irreligious.
Relevant legislation protecting religious freedoms include sections of the Constitution of Australia, Federal anti-discrimination laws and State/Territory-based human rights acts and anti-discrimination laws. As these freedoms are not protected in a single piece of legislation, but rather appear as sections, clauses and exemptions in other acts or laws, legal religious freedom protections are often a source of great debate and difficult to discern in Australia.
Constitutional position on religious freedom
The Constitution of Australia prohibits the Commonwealth from establishing laws which create, force or prohibit any religion. It also restricts the Commonwealth from using religion as a qualifier or test in order to hold public office. Section 116 of Chapter V. The States in the Australian Constitution reads:
The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth.
The section is based on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The article does not prohibit the States of Australia from implementing such laws, meaning legislation at the state level could provide for restriction or enforcement of religion.
Anti-discrimination laws
Anti-discrimination laws addressing unfair treatment on the basis of a range of attributes, including religion, also apply at the state and federal level. These laws contribute to religious freedoms by allowing Australians to practice religion without fear of consequence from the executive, organisations or individuals. This is achieved by prohibiting detrimental treatment as a result of an individual's religious appearance, beliefs or observances. Some argue these laws are inconsistent at the state level and may be limited at the federal level.
Religious exemptions
General religious exception or exemption clauses exist within the various federal and state human rights acts with the aim to ensuring religious activities or observances are not impacted or inhibited by the protections provided by each act. These exemptions therefore protect freedom of religion by permitting what would otherwise be considered discrimination if it is in the context of ''an act or practice of a body established for religious purposes that conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of that religion or is necessary to avoid injury to the religious sensitivities of adherents of that religion.''
In the case of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986, for example, an exemption is provided:
Discrimination ... does not include any distinction, exclusion or preference:
(d) in connection with employment as a member of the staff of an institution that is conducted in accordance with the doctrines, tenets, beliefs or teachings of a particular religion or creed, being a distinction, exclusion or preference made in good faith in order to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion or that creed.
Varying groups have argued that existing religious exceptions and exemptions go too far and impede the rights of individuals, whilst others argue the correct balance has been struck, and yet others petition for wider-reaching religious exemption clauses.
The Religious Review Expert Panel (the Ruddock Review)
Following the passage of same-sex marriage legislation in Australia in 2017, a federal review was commissioned by the Turnbull Government to examine the suitability of current religious freedom protections, specifically within the context of the new Marriage Amendment Act 2017. There was concern that attempts might be made to force some people to officiate at or otherwise assist same-sex marriage ceremonies about which they had religious objections.
The Religious Freedom Review was chaired by Philip Ruddock, the former Attorney-General for Australia at the time same-sex marriage was banned by the Howard Government in 2004, and had no associated terms of reference.
Turnbull's government indicated it would not release the report received in May 2018 until it had been considered in full by the government. Following the deposition of Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, his replacement Scott Morrison indicated his government would not release the report or form a full response to it before the end of 2018.
On 9 October 2018, extracts of the review were leaked to Fairfax Media, which reported that schools affiliated with a religion ''would be guaranteed the right to turn away gay students and teachers under changes to federal anti-discrimination laws'' recommended by the review. The Prime Minister initially defended this, but stated that the media coverage of the leaked report was ''confused''.[36] Religious schools have held the right to discriminate against teachers and students on the basis of their gender or sexual orientation since 2013, however the Ruddock report recommended that schools additionally be required to hold a publicly-available policy and put the best interests of the child first.
Following further media coverage and public pressure, the Labor opposition announced their support would be lent to the government should it seek to repeal the discrimination law exemptions already in existence which allow religious schools to ban students based on their sexuality. The Morrison Government subsequently agreed to introduce a bill to parliament with that aim. The Australian Greens and Labor opposition have further committed to revoking discrimination exemptions that also allow discrimination against teachers based on their sexual orientation, however the government has so far not indicated its position.
In December, 2018, the government moved to defuse the parliamentary impasse over the treatment of gay students within religious schools by referring the issue to the Australian Law Reform Commission for ðreview.
Anti-religious Discrimination Act
On December 13, 2018, Scott Morrison announced that his government would introduce a specifically anti-religious discrimination bill into federal parliament in 2019. Draft legislation for the reform will be released in early 2019 and will include a provision for the creation of a 'freedom of religion' commissioner to sit within the Australian Human Rights ðCommission.
The Prime Minister stated, 'This is an essential part of multiculturalism, in the same way no Australian should be discriminated against for their ethnicity or sexuality. Protecting freedom of belief is central to the liberty of each and every Australian.'