PM plays down changing gay student laws
- by Kelli Lowe
- in Global Media
- — Oct 13, 2018
Church schools in Australia may soon be legally allowed to reject gay and transgender students to protect "religious freedom".
Mr Morrison refused to weigh into the issue on Wednesday, stating simply that "existing laws" enabled certain schools to turn students away based on their sexuality.
Mr Morrison - a devout Christian - previously said he wanted to take a "proactive approach" to protecting religious freedom.
The review, chaired by former Liberal minister Phillip Ruddock, allegedly calls for the federal Sex Discrimination Act to be amended to allow faith-based schools to turn away students and teachers based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or religious status.
"There is a wide variety of religious schools in Australia and.to some school communities, cultivating an environment and ethos which conforms to their religious beliefs is of paramount importance", Fairfax quoted the report as saying.
"The fact is every children is entitled to human dignity".
In a statement on Wednesday morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: 'Our government will consider the details and release our response after it has gone through a proper cabinet process.
The report calls for pregnancy to be removed as a reason for rejecting a student, and requires schools to be upfront about what may lead to a rejection, insisting on published policies.
"I think absolutely religious schools have the right to teach their religion at their school and to employ people where they have a consistent view with their religion".
"We remain deeply concerned that under a Morrison government this bill will be drafted without regard to the interests of LGBTIQ people and other minorities who now bear the brunt of religious discrimination", she said.
The review was commissioned after the 2017 national same-sex marriage vote and handed to the government several months ago, but is yet to be released.
Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher said he and his cabinet colleagues had not seen the document.
Shadow Education Minister Tanya Plibersek said expanding discrimination was a "disturbing proposition".
"As a human being and as a mother, the idea that adults would be discriminating against or rejecting children seems to me pretty terrible", Ms Plibersek told Sky News earlier today.
Gay rights activists have slammed the proposal as a shameful assault on equality.
Independent senator Derryn Hinch will move a notice of motion in the Senate next Monday, calling for government funding to be stripped from private schools that discriminate against teachers or students on sexuality grounds.
However, the review said businesses would not be allowed to refuse customers on a religious basis and that registrars would have to conduct same-sex marriages.
