Human Rights Legislation Amendment Bill 2021

The majority voted in favour of disagreeing with an amendment introduced by Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie (Centre Alliance), which means the amendment failed.

There were three rebellions, with Bass MP Bridget Archer (Liberal), Reid MP Fiona Martin (Liberal) and North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman (Liberal) crossing the floor to vote 'No' against the rest of their party, who voted 'Yes.'

What would this amendment do?

MP Sharkie explained that:

We should not cherrypick and provide protections for students while the teachers who teach those children are left with no protection from sexual discrimination. What message does that send to the students if they see that their teacher is dismissed because of their sexuality, gender or marital status? Think about it. The young people see the hypocrisy here—protection for some and not for others.

We need to ensure that teachers and contract workers in educational settings are protected from sexual discrimination in their employment. We need to make sure that students are protected. So this amendment will rightly protect students and teachers and contract workers in religious schools from being subjected to discrimination on the grounds of their sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or indeed pregnancy status by amending section 37 and removing section 38 in its entirety.

Amendment text

(2) Schedule 1, page 6 (after line 10), at the end of the Schedule, add:

10 At the end of section 37

Add:

(3) Paragraph (1)(d) does not apply to an act or practice of an educational institution that is conducted in accordance with the doctrines, tenets, beliefs or teachings of a particular religion or creed if the act or practice is in connection with employment, education or training provided by the educational institution.

11 Section 38

Repeal the section.

What does the bill do?

According to the bill homepage, the bill was introduced with the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 and Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 in order to amend the following bills:

• Age Discrimination Act 2004,
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992,
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 and
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975.

The bill's amendments will ensure that, when enforcing these bills:

regard must be had to the indivisibility and universality of human rights and their equal status in international law, and the principle that every person is free and equal in their dignity and rights.

The bill also amends the Charities Act 2013 and Marriage Act 1961 in order to ensure that:

to provide that otherwise charitable entities that engage in lawful activities promoting a traditional view of marriage are undertaking those activities for the public benefit and not contrary to public policy; and to allow religious educational institutions to refuse to provide facilities, goods or services in relation to the solemnisation of a marriage in accordance with their religious beliefs.

SBS News has provided a good summary of the more controversial parts of the bill, including an explanation for each rebellion that occurred during the long debate. According to this summary, the key areas for concern were:

• the parts of the bill that allowed religious schools to discriminate on the basis of sexuality and gender identity;
• the "statement of belief" that seems to protect people expressing religious beliefs even if they're offensive and therefore seem to override existing anti-discrimination protections; and
• the fact that the bill does not outlaw vilification of people of faith.