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Revised religious discrimination bill to return to Parliament
The Religious Discrimination Bill will return to Parliament this week, this time with several amendments that included scrapping the controversial “Folau clause” and removing the ability for health providers to refuse treatment to prospective patients.
Naomi Neilson
The bill, which was released in the government’s first exposure draft in 2019 by the Prime Minister and the then attorney-general Christian Porter, was created to eliminate discrimination against people on the grounds of their religious beliefs. However, it has since faced major criticisms for how it may hurt the community through the law.
The amendments, which was signed off by cabinet and briefed to government MPs last week, additionally restricts health practitioners from refusing treatment on the basis of “conscientious belief”. However, the “statement of belief” clause remains, which would override commonwealth, state and territory anti-discrimination laws.
The #DontDivideUs campaign, which has the support of former High Court justice Michael Kirby, said that any new laws to protect religious belief and non-belief “must provide a shield from discrimination” and should not “provide a sword for religious people and religious organisations to further discriminate” against others.
Dr Meredith Doig, campaign spokesperson and president of the Rationalist Society of Australia, said it was concerning that federal Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has ignored the voices of non-religious and pro-secular groups during consultations.
“The Attorney-General claimed recently that she has been consulting ‘far and wide’ and negotiating with stakeholders ‘across the board’,” Dr Doig said.
“Although the government previously said the bill would protect religious and non-religious beliefs equally, it’s clear that it has chosen to ignore non-religious and pro-secular groups this year whilst privileging the voices of religious lobbyists.”
In June 2021, Justice Kirby said it was discouraging that some leaders and organised religion “cannot lift their sights above sex and the bedroom” in drafting this legislation at a time when “there are so many important questions facing humanity”. He has called on the legal profession to speak up against the restrictive legislation.
“When it comes to practising religious beliefs in a way that hurts others, the community, through the law, has the right to step in and offer protection to those others. This is especially so when cruelty and discrimination are upheld by religious doctrines. Particularly so where such doctrines are shown, by increasing evidence, to be unscientific and without empirical foundation,” Justice Kirby commented.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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