Fighting for Our Faith-Based Schools
Pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, with parents and teachers declaring his anticipated changes to religious discrimination laws an attack on faith-based schools.
A capacity crowd of more than 650 school leaders, staff, parents and students attended the Faith in Our Future event held at Regents Park Christian School on 6 May, following an 800-strong attendance in Brisbane the previous week.
Shadow Attorney-General Senator Michaelia Cash, Shadow Minister for Education Senator Sarah Henderson and Member for Berowra Julian Leeser attended the Sydney meeting, but Minister for Education Jason Clare and political representatives from other parties declined invitations to attend.
Registrations are filling fast for further rallies planned for Perth, Launceston and Melbourne.
Resisting Restrictions
The events are organised by the Australian Association of Christian Schools, Associated Christian Schools and Christian Schools Australia in response to the Australian Law Reform Commission report tabled in parliament by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on 21 March.
Its key recommendation that the government repeal an important exemption for religious schools in the Sex Discrimination Act would restrict the ability of schools to preference the employment of staff who hold the same beliefs.
It also recommends an amendment to the Fair Work Act to narrow the circumstances in which schools could give preference to staff of the same faith unless deemed “reasonably necessary to build or maintain a community of faith.”
Packed-out town hall.
National Catholic Education Commission director Jacinta Collins has previously said of the report that it is an attack on religious freedom and parental rights, and would place severe restrictions on schools’ ability to operate as faith-based schools.
Parental Rights
Prime Minister Albanese wants prior bipartisan support for two as-yet-unreleased draft pieces of religious freedom legislation.
But Senator Cash, who has seen the draft bills, explained that while she is not permitted to share them, they reflect the recommendations made by the commission and form part of a larger attack on religious schools across a number of different legislative fronts.
“Please do not underestimate that this is a fight,” she told the crowd.
“Faith in this country is under attack; it is as simple as that, and when we are under attack, we must stand up and be counted,” she said.
“No government in Australia should deny you the right to choose the education you want for your children.”
More than 8,000 people have sent messages to the Prime Minister or their local member of parliament through a grassroots campaign at the website mychristianschool.au.
“This is a good opportunity to testify to people in power and to glorify God,” said Volodymyr Shcheglov, a father of three children at Regents Park Christian School, where his wife Svitlana also works as a teacher’s aide.
“After we migrated from Ukraine and settled here in 2014, it was a blessing for us to enrol our children in this school.”
___
Republished with thanks to The Catholic Weekly. Image courtesy of Gustavo Fring.
Recent Articles:
14 January 2025
2.9 MINS
Australia’s virtue signalling High Commissioner to the United Kingdom is doing a backflip, after a massive backlash. Stephen Smith, whose taxpayer-funded income is in the six-figure range, declared on Thursday that he would not be attending a key Australia Day function.
-
14 January 2025
3.2 MINS
A landmark health meeting will be presented with shocking figures on the number of people with severe psychiatric conditions who are receiving few or no services in the community, as ministers come together to formulate a national response to the nation’s growing mental health crisis.
14 January 2025
4.2 MINS
It is this sustaining hope, envisioning glory to come, that allows us to continue amidst the sin and cruelty that darken our age and sometimes our own relationships closer to home. It empowers us to bear fruit as peacemakers, life givers, lovers of the poor, sick and suffering.
14 January 2025
6.2 MINS
With a number of people dead and thousands of homes and businesses destroyed, the massive fires fuelled by strong winds in Los Angeles have been utterly devastating. The sad truth is this: California leaders and authorities were clearly quite unprepared for these fires.
14 January 2025
5.6 MINS
You probably wouldn’t know it by the legislation they pass and the debates they have, but Capitol Hill is one of the most religious places on earth.
-
13 January 2025
3.5 MINS
Errol Musk is predicating Tommy Robinson (Stephen Lennon) will one day be Prime Minister. Elon’s estranged and controversial father aired the not-so-batty point in an interview shared to X by The Times Radio on Tuesday.
-
13 January 2025
7.6 MINS
Depending on which echo chamber you get your news from, last week Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took steps to either save democracy, or to end it. Zuckerberg announced several changes to Meta’s moderation approach, including replacing third-party fact-checkers with a user-driven Community Notes model.
