It appears the rigid hard-right core of the Liberal and National parties, whose face for public consumption is Prime Minister Scott Morrison, thought that Australian voters would find it acceptable that the only people that religious institutions of any denomination would not be able to discriminate against will be heterosexual individuals and those born with absent or ambiguous secondary sexual characteristics.
Everyone else would apparently be fair game for every rabid bigot across the land.
Gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender citizens and their children are not to be afforded the full protection of human rights and anti-discrimination law in this New World Order.
It doesn't get any clearer than the main thrust of the twenty recommendations set out below.
However, now the cat is out of the bag Morrison is backtracking slightly. Just hours after arguing schools should be run consistent with their religious principles and that no existing exemption should be repealed, Scott Morrison told Sky News that he was "not comfortable" with private schools expelling gay students on the basis of their sexuality.
Rejecting new enrolment applications by gay students was something he was careful not to directly address.
It should be noted that "not comfortable' leaves a lot of wiggle room to look the other way as state and federal legislation is either amended or new Commonwealth legislation created which would allow this blatant discrimination to lawfully occur.
Recommendations
found in the Religious
Freedom Review: Report of the Expert Panel:
Recommendation 1
Those jurisdictions that
retain exceptions or exemptions in their anti-discrimination laws for religious
bodies with respect to race, disability, pregnancy or intersex status should
review them, having regard to community expectations.
Recommendation 2
Commonwealth, state and
territory governments should have regard to the Siracusa
Principles on the Limitation and Derogation Provisions in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights when drafting laws that would limit
the right to freedom of religion.
Recommendation 3
Commonwealth, state and
territory governments should consider the use of objects, purposes or other
interpretive clauses in anti-discrimination legislation to reflect the equal
status in international law of all human rights, including freedom of religion.
Recommendation 4
The Commonwealth should
amend section 11 of the Charities Act 2013 to clarify that advocacy of a
‘traditional’ view of marriage would not, of itself, amount to a ‘disqualifying
purpose’.
Recommendation 5
The Commonwealth should
amend the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 to provide that religious schools can
discriminate in relation to the employment of staff, and the engagement of
contractors, on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship
status provided that:
The
discrimination is founded in the precepts of the religion.
The
school has a publicly available policy outlining its position in relation to
the matter and explaining how the policy will be enforced.
The
school provides a copy of the policy in writing to employees and contractors
and prospective employees and contractors.
Recommendation 6
Jurisdictions should
abolish any exceptions to anti-discrimination laws that provide for
discrimination by religious schools in employment on the basis of race,
disability, pregnancy or intersex status. Further, jurisdictions should ensure
that any exceptions for religious schools do not permit discrimination against
an existing employee solely on the basis that the employee has entered into a
marriage.
Recommendation 7
The Commonwealth should
amend the Sex Discrimination Act to provide that religious schools may
discriminate in relation to students on the basis of sexual orientation, gender
identity or relationship status provided that:
The
discrimination is founded in the precepts of the religion.
The
school has a publicly available policy outlining its position in relation to
the matter.
The
school provides a copy of the policy in writing to prospective students and
their parents at the time of enrolment and to existing students and their
parents at any time the policy is updated.
The
school has regard to the best interests of the child as the primary
consideration in its conduct.
Recommendation 8
Jurisdictions should
abolish any exceptions to anti-discrimination laws that provide for
discrimination by religious schools with respect to students on the basis of
race, disability, pregnancy or intersex status.
Recommendation 9
State and territory
education departments should maintain clear policies as to when and how a
parent or guardian may request that a child be removed from a class that
contains instruction on religious or moral matters and ensure that these
policies are applied consistently. These policies should:
Include
a requirement to provide sufficient, relevant information about such classes to
enable parents or guardians to consider whether their content may be
inconsistent with the parents’ or guardians’ religious beliefs
Give
due consideration to the rights of the child, including to receive information
about sexual health, and their progressive capacity to make decisions for
themselves.
Recommendation 10
The Commonwealth
Attorney-General should consider the guidance material on the Attorney-General’s
Department’s website relating to authorised celebrants to ensure that it uses
plain English to explain clearly and precisely the operation of the Marriage
Act 1961. The updated guidance should include:
A
clear description of the religious protections available to different classes
of authorised celebrants, and
Advice
that the term ‘minister of religion’ is used to cover authorised celebrants
from religious bodies which would not ordinarily use the term ‘minister’,
including non-Christian religions.
Recommendation 11
The Commonwealth
Attorney-General should consider whether the Code of Practice set out in
Schedule 2 of the Marriage Regulations 2017 is appropriately adapted to the
needs of smaller and emerging religious bodies.
Recommendation 12
The Commonwealth should
progress legislative amendments to make it clear that religious schools are not
required to make available their facilities, or to provide goods or services,
for any marriage, provided that the refusal:
Conforms
to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the religion of the body
Is
necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of
that religion.
Recommendation 13
Those jurisdictions that
have not abolished statutory or common law offences of blasphemy should do so.
Recommendation 14
References to blasphemy
in the Shipping Registration Regulations 1981, and in state and territory
primary and secondary legislation, should be repealed or replaced with terms
applicable not only to religion.
Recommendation 15
The Commonwealth should
amend the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, or enact a Religious Discrimination
Act, to render it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s
‘religious belief or activity’, including on the basis that a person does not
hold any religious belief. In doing so, consideration should be given to
providing for appropriate exceptions and exemptions, including for religious
bodies, religious schools and charities.
Recommendation 16
New South Wales and
South Australia should amend their anti-discrimination laws to render it
unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s ‘religious belief or
activity’ including on the basis that a person does not hold any religious
belief. In doing so, consideration should be given to providing for the appropriate
exceptions and exemptions, including for religious bodies, religious schools
and charities.
Recommendation 17
The Commonwealth should
commission the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative
information on the experience of freedom of religion in Australia at the
community level, including:
Incidents
of physical violence, including threats of violence, linked to a person’s faith
Harassment,
intimidation or verbal abuse directed at those of faith
Forms
of discrimination based on religion and suffered by those of faith
Unreasonable
restrictions on the ability of people to express, manifest or change their
faith
Restrictions
on the ability of people to educate their children in a manner consistent with
their faith
The
experience of freedom of religion impacting on other human rights
The
extent to which religious diversity (as distinct from cultural diversity)
is accepted and promoted in Australian society
is accepted and promoted in Australian society
Recommendation 18
The Commonwealth should
support the development of a religious engagement and public education program
about human rights and religion in Australia, the importance of the right to
freedom of religion and belief, and the current protections for religious
freedom in Australian and international law. As a first step, the panel recommends
that the Attorney-General should ask the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human
Rights to inquire into and report on how best to enhance engagement, education
and awareness about these issues.
Recommendation 19
The Australian Human
Rights Commission should take a leading role in the protection of freedom of
religion, including through enhancing engagement, understanding and dialogue.
This should occur within the existing commissioner model and not necessarily through
the creation of a new position.
Recommendation 20
The Prime Minister and
the Commonwealth Attorney-General should take leadership of the issues
identified in this report with respect to the Commonwealth, and work with the
states and territories to ensure its implementation. While the panel hopes it
would not be necessary, consideration should be given to further Commonwealth
legislative solutions if required.
Because Scott Morrison made no secret of his dislike of same-sex marriage and his intention to make new laws protecting so-called religious 'freedoms'. he is now going to have a fight on his hands every single day until the next federal election - these recommendations have made that a certainty.
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