Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) with faith community leaders. FOLLOWING last year’s Religious Freedom Review conducted by an expert panel headed by Philip Ruddock, and the publication of its report, the Australian government announced its intention to introduce a new law, a Religious Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religious belief or affiliation, writes Peter Wertheim . According to the government, the legislation will say that you are not allowed to discriminate against another person on the basis of that person’s religious beliefs or affiliation, but it will then provide a series of exceptions which will permit faith-based organisations to exclude a person of another faith, or no faith, from membership or employment or other aspects of their operations. This would be similar to the structure of all previous federal and state laws. The basic scheme of these laws is that they prohibit discrimination (e.g. on the basis of race, sex, disability or age), but then have exceptions or exemptions for faith-based organisations, among others. Religious freedom currently receives some constitutional protection in Australia under section 116 of the Australian Constitution, but the High Court has given that section a narrow interpretation. Section 116 does not […]
