In 2018, the Prime Minister and Attorney-General released the Report of the Religious Freedom Review that concluded that there is an opportunity to further protect and better promote freedom of religion under Australian law and in the community. Upon this review, the Australian government committed to a range of measures to implement the recommendations and invited submissions on first exposure drafts of legislative reforms on religious freedom. These are the Religious Discrimination Bill 2019, Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019 and the Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Freedom of Religion) Bill 2019.
More recently, the second exposure drafts of the three bills were released. However, they remain a controversial issue with many legal professionals concerned about the practical effect of the bill.
The Attorney-General states that the draft of Religious Freedom Bill would extend the protections to protect people against discrimination based on their religion or religious belief, or lack thereof, but does not create a positive right to freedom of religion.
On the other hand, the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) said the draft legislation fails to strike a fair balance between the freedom of religion and other rights, with director Hugh de Kretser of the view that the bill may limit the ability of employers to enforce codes of conduct that promote diversity and will even infringe state and territory discrimination laws in some circumstances. Furthermore, Australian Lawyers for Human Rights (ALHR) also asserts that the Religious Discrimination Bill has failed to be consistent with international human rights law and creates situations whereby discrimination may be permitted on the basis of religious beliefs.
Issues raised included how the proposed legislation ought to work in relation to conflicts between different religions as well as the conflicts between existing anti-discrimination laws. The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) noted that the bill will largely impact the community and most definitely affect people with disabilities, children, people without any religious beliefs and LGBTIQ+ people.
Views on the Religious Discrimination Bill remain contentious at large, with the Coalition’s push for the bill. How the Morrison government will respond to critics’ claim will be closely followed, as the bill progresses through parliament.
Article written by Sian Hur