Page 4892 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the government reflects a careful balance of protections for vulnerable people within or who interact with religious educational institutions and the right to freedom of religion, which remains an important part of our social fabric as a community.
The removal of broad-based exceptions for religious educational institutions is aimed at stopping students and teachers alike from being discriminated against simply for who they are. In the government’s view this is best achieved by the bill in its current form. I acknowledge that Mr Coe has a significant interest in this, and some of his colleagues through their interjections to his speech clearly have a significant interest. They are welcome to make a contribution to this debate, in fact, I encourage them to do so. Get on the public record and say what you really think rather than making snide remarks across the chamber.
To address the specific amendments moved by Mr Coe, the first includes a delayed commencement for the amendments to the middle of next year. As Mr Rattenbury has indicated, it is the intention of government to work closely with religious educational institutions in the territory to support them to understand and to be in a position to comply with these reforms prior to them taking effect.
The bill in its current form already allows for commencement of the amendments by ministerial declaration, and where no such declaration is made the amendments will commence around six months after the amendments are passed. This provides sufficient flexibility to accommodate the anticipated consultation with the education sector to ensure that students and teachers are not left with reduced protections under the current framework any longer than they need to be. We anticipate commencing these changes on 29 April 2019, which coincides with the start of the second school term. For this reason the government will not be supporting Mr Coe’s first amendment.
In relation to the second amendment moved by Mr Coe, it would introduce a narrow and targeted exception for religious educational institutions which would apply to discrimination on the basis of any protected attribute. The exception would allow a religious educational institution to require students to participate in religious education, which could include a requirement to study religious education, attend religious services and observe religious practices.
This amendment would limit the right to religious freedom as students could be required to attend services or observe religious practices that are wholly inconsistent with their own religious beliefs. This exception is obviously likely to have the most impact on students who, as Mr Coe has indicated—and these students exist—attend a religious school that does not reflect their own religious faith.
Although there is an exception in section 46 of the Discrimination Act allowing a faith-based school not to admit a student from another faith—and this exception is retained in the bill—the fact is that in Canberra pretty much every religious school chooses to admit students of different faiths. In fact, many schools admit students of no faith. Where a student of a different or no faith is admitted they should not be subject to unfavourable treatment or requirements that disadvantage them unless those
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video