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ALP’s proposed religious freedom policy must include keeping exemptions for faith-based schools.

A new Australian Labor Party draft platform has been released with a section significantly improving the party’s support for religious freedom. The Party is taking submissions from ALP members on the draft platform, with contributions due by June 23. You can read the full platform and make submissions here.

The policy sounds good, but the real test will be if the ALP also maintains exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) for faith-based schools after the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) reports. Its report has been pushed back to December 31.

The ALRC’s terms of reference came from ALP Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who instructed the Commission to report on ensuring that religious institutions do not discriminate against staff or students “on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy”.

On this basis, the interim ALRC report spoke of removing the crucial exemptions clauses from the SDA, without which religious schools could not remain true to their fundamental moral teachings. They would be stripped of their defining religious identity.

Undoubtedly, anti-religious activists will want the draft ALP religious-freedom policy watered down.

The most important part of the draft platform (Chapter 5, par 44) says:

“Labor believes in and supports the right of all Australians to have and to manifest their religion or beliefs, and the right of religious organisations to act in accordance with the doctrines, tenets, beliefs or teachings of their faith.

Such rights should be protected by law and, in accordance with Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [ICCPR], subject only to such limitations as are necessary to protect public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.”

While the ICCPR is considered the gold standard for the protection of religious freedom, undoubtedly there will be debate over allegations that religious schools manifesting their traditional moral values on sex and marriage constitutes discrimination against “the fundamental rights” of others holding contrary views about sexual morality.

Hence, it is important to say to the ALP that support for the ICCPR’s protections for religious freedom means maintaining the SDA exemptions for faith-based schools, or else the party’s religious freedom policy will have little meaning.

ACTION

1. Write/call/email your federal ALP senators/MP (download our lists as a ZIP file) and call on them to:

•    Support the clauses in the draft ALP platform guaranteeing freedom of religion as recognised in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and say that this will have meaning only if the ALP policy also commits to maintaining the exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act for faith-based schools.  These schools educate about one-third of students in Australian schools.  Nobody who disagrees with the moral teaching of a religious school is obliged to attend that school.

•    Emphasise that a multicultural society like Australia needs to be a multi-faith society, where all faiths are welcomed in the public space.

•    Emphasise that, from history, freedom of religion is the foundation of freedom of speech, which is a necessary condition for a tolerant democratic society.

2. Approach people you know in the ALP to make a submission on the web page for the Party’s proposed platform, see here. Ask them to support the new religious-freedom policy and to call on the Party to maintain the exemptions for faith-based schools.

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From the National Civic Council campaigns team. Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash