Religious exceptions - church v state

With the Victorian government currently considering all the 'exceptions' and exemptions' in Victoria's Equal Opportunity Act, things are starting to heat up!

The religious exceptions in the Act are causing a great deal of concern among some Christian groups. Section 75 covers churches and religious schools, Section 76 covers religious schools and Section 77 covers individuals. The exceptions say that religious bodies and so on are excepted from the anti-discrimination laws

The Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee put out an Options Paper in May 2009 and asked for submissions. Over 1,000 were received and the Committee is now analysing them.

  

 The Sunday Age published a front page article yesterday highlighting the issue.

Church and state clash over equality laws
The Age, Melissa Fyfe -July 19, 2009

The Age article featured several religious groups saying they want the exceptions to remain.
The Victorian Catholic Church bishops issued a pastoral letter last week, expressing their concerns and calling for the religious exceptions to stay.
[Sources: Article on the pastoral letter and the pastoral letter.]

The newspaper report quoted the Law Institute saying that the exceptions should be reduced. The Sunday Age then ran an editorial supporting the idea of a 'compromise' on the exceptions - in fact the 'compromise' proposed by Beth Gaze - the consultant to the Inquiry - who wrote in her own submission to the earlier Inquiry by the Justice Department that the right to discriminate should be limited.

"Religious schools should not be authorised to discriminate in areas where their religious susceptibilities or doctrines are not involved," she says. "A proper conscientious objection provision" could be included, she suggests, but one that takes into account the effect on the person discriminated against.

The editorial quoted homosexual group Rainbow Network saying that many of the Catholic schools already employed people in de facto relationships or homosexuals - thus they claimed that the exceptions are irrelevant.
However most Christian schools insist on faith and lifestyle conditions for their staff.
There is a huge difference between a group choosing to employ someone and being forced to employ someone!

We continue to be concerned at the push to force churches, religious schools and Christians to act contrary to their beliefs. Religious freedom is important - and is under threat in Victoria!

Check our Campaign page regarding the review of the exceptions.