Faith and LGBTQ+ communities frustrated by abandonment of push for religious discrimination protections

An equality campaigner has called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a “coward” for abandoning a plan to scrap an exemption that would allow religious schools to discriminate against staff and students based on gender or sexual orientation.

James Elliot-Watson, who says he was punished by his Christian school for being gay, said he was angry at Mr Albanese’s decision not to proceed with the controversial reforms and warned it would lead to more young LGBTQ+ people being harmed.

Labour promised at the last election to introduce a religious discrimination bill to strengthen protections for believers and ensure LGBTQ+ people are not discriminated against in schools.

But last week Albanese said the time had passed for a series of controversial legislation because Previously, the bill was defeated without bipartisan support.This has frustrated LGBTQ+ and faith groups who have been calling for a solution to the issue for years.

“If there was anything that needed to be done, it was this, and he gave up,” Elliott Watson said.

“There’s no other way to describe it, it’s gutless.”

The activist, now 29, said he was banned from being a prefect at the Christian school after he confided in a teacher that he was “struggling with his sexuality”. When he later came out in class, he said he was suspended.

He said he has since “spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in therapy” trying to overcome the experiences.

“For me it’s very clear, black and white – you either do it or you don’t,” said Mr Elliott-Watson, who has campaigned for the reforms with Equality Australia.

“This is my life we’re talking about here.”

Religious discrimination protections put on hold

The issue of religious discrimination protection has dogged both sides of government since it was first raised following the successful same-sex marriage referendum in 2017.

Mr Albanese shelved the draft bill to avoid reigniting a divisive debate with an election looming and communal tensions already running high.

“The last thing Australia needs is any divisive debate about religion and people’s beliefs,” he told reporters on Friday.

“I have no intention of engaging in a partisan debate on the issue of religious discrimination.”

He blamed the Coalition for the failure to reach a deal and said the Coalition had not proposed any changes to the draft legislation, which has not yet been made public.

LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Australia this week accused the government of breaking a campaign promise and said the decision would lead to more children being denied school and leadership opportunities, and more teachers losing their jobs in religious schools.

“And many more are living in constant fear that someone will eventually find out who they are,” said Anna Brown, chief executive of Equality Australia.

“With thousands of vulnerable Australians at such high risk, the government is playing a dangerous game by not taking action and instead pursuing existing avenues through parliament,” she said.

Religious groups also disappointed

Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli, who was involved in discussions with the government and opposition on the bill, also said it was regrettable the plan could not go ahead.

In a statement he called on the prime minister to ensure “there is no rollback on protections for religious believers”.

“In the absence of any new protections, today’s announcement also means that existing protections remain in place,” he said.

Australian Christian Schools also expressed frustration, saying it was too early to abandon a “historic opportunity” to implement “long overdue protections”.

“Religious leaders have offered the government a historic path forward that will unite believers,” said public policy director Mark Spencer.

“There is no disagreement on how to advance religious freedom, and I call on the prime minister to show leadership by directing the attorney general to adopt these sensible amendments.”

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry did not comment on the prime minister’s recent comments, but co-chief executive Peter Wertheim has previously said it was better to delay reforms if consensus could not be reached, rather than “imposing changes that large parts of the community would strongly oppose”.

The Coalition has previously called on the government to implement changes proposed by religious groups, with opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash saying she had been asked to “make a line-by-line comment to rebut the very clear feedback that has been given by religious leaders”.

“From the outset, we made clear that we would work constructively to deliver a package that would move Australian believers forward, not backward,” she said.

She described the legislative work so far as “one of the strangest processes” she had ever seen in Parliament.

“The prime minister hid this legislation from his own caucus, I was prohibited from sharing it and many faith groups were not shown it,” she said.

A long-standing problem

The unresolved issue of legal protection for religious beliefs dates back to 2017, when the Turnbull government agreed to study the possibility of a religious discrimination bill to appease conservative politicians unhappy with same-sex marriage legislation.

Concerns were quickly raised that by strengthening religious protections, without addressing exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act, schools could have further powers to expel or fire LGBTQ+ students and staff.

Labor’s twin goals of creating legal protections for people of faith while protecting LGBTQ+ students and staff from discrimination in the school system are a departure from what was pursued during the administration of former prime minister Scott Morrison.

After five Coalition ministers switched sides and voted with Labor in favour of a Bipartisan amendment provides stronger protections for transgender students.

Earlier this year, Australian Law Reform Commission It recommends repealing an exemption in the Sex Discrimination Act that allows religious schools to discriminate against students and teachers based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or relationship status for religious reasons.

Mr Elliott-Watson said this needed to be done immediately. “There are people who are going to suffer terrible, horrific, emotional harm that wouldn’t happen if there were laws to protect them,” he said.

“Every day that this legislation fails to work as it should means more lives will be needlessly harmed.”