Federal parliament urged to scrap religious discrimination laws

The Victorian government has urged federal parliament to consider abandoning religious discrimination laws, warning they may “undermine protections against prejudice”.

The Victorian government has urged the federal parliament to consider abandoning religious discrimination laws which Scott Morrison has vowed to implement before the election.

Parliament returns for the year on Tuesday, and the legislation is expected to dominate the agenda, but two inquiries over summer failed to provide a bipartisan path for it to pass.

The Victorian government’s intervention – warning the Bill may “significantly undermine protections against prejudice” – poses a new challenge for federal Labor as it decides whether to back Mr Morrison’s Bill despite unresolved issues.

Scott Morrison has vowed to implement religious discrimination laws before the election. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The Herald Sun can also reveal that Vision Australia has raised concerns with the federal government that the Bill would enable religious beliefs to be used as an excuse to discriminate against people with seeing eye dogs.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes, who has foreshadowed a High Court challenge if the Bill passes, said it “unreasonably and disproportionately impacts on the rights of others, particularly LGBTIQ+ people, to equality, and threatens to undermine Victoria’s recent reforms to narrow religious exceptions to discrimination”.

The Bill specifically overrides new state laws that remove the ability for religious schools to discriminate in employment decisions except where religious beliefs are an “inherent requirement” of specific jobs.

Victorian Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes has foreshadowed a High Court challenge if the Bill passes. Picture: David Crosling

A spokesman for federal Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said giving preference to people of faith was a “a fundamental protection that allows a religious school to make the best employment choices to maintain the particular religious ethos of that school”.

But Ms Symes said undermining Victoria’s laws was “a significant and deeply concerning overreach” and she would “do what’s necessary to protect Victorians” if the Bill passed.

Vision Australia government relations manager Chris Edwards said he was concerned the Bill would make an “already challenging situation even harder” for people with seeing eye dogs using taxi and ride-share services and entering venues.

He said 90 per cent of ride-share and taxi drivers who rejected taking seeing eye dogs already cited religious beliefs as the reason.

Senator Cash’s spokesman maintained the laws would “only protect statements of belief”, not conduct such as refusing entry to people with assistance dogs.

Originally published as Federal parliament urged to scrap religious discrimination laws