Human Rights Commission calls for ban on religious discrimination

THE Australian Human Rights Commission has called for religions to be covered by the same anti-discrimination laws as race or disability.

The AHRC says religious freedom should be covered by federal anti-discrimination law.

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LANDLORDS who refuse to rent homes to Muslim tenants and employers who shun ­Catholics or any other religious denomination will be committing an offence under a proposed widening of the race-hate laws.

The Australian Human Rights Commission wants religious bias outlawed on the same grounds as discrimination based on race or disability.

As the Turnbull government battles to reform the ­Racial Discrimination Act, the AHRC is lobbying for religion to be added to the list of “protected attributes’’.

Australians who refuse to hire or promote a worker, to serve a customer or to lease a property on religious grounds could then be prosecuted and forced to pay compensation.

The AHRC says people of faith are not specifically protected by Australia’s laws.

The AHRC has told a parliamentary inquiry that religious freedom should be covered by federal anti-discrimination law.

“It would also provide enforceable remedies for people who experience discrimination or vilification on the basis of religion in an area of public life, for example a person whose rental application is refused because the homeowner doesn’t want people of a particular religion living in the property,’’ it states.

Human Rights Commissioner Edward Santow said federal laws failed to protect Australians from religious discrimination.

The AHRC says it does not know the scope of religious discrimination.

“I am troubled by the fact that people of faith are not specifically protected under federal anti-discrimination law,’’ he told The Daily Telegraph yesterday.

“We would say it’s deeply unfair for someone to be ­refused service in a pub because their skin colour is black. Someone could say they don’t want to serve Christians. We’re saying that’s (also) unfair.’’

Mr Santow said religious groups should retain existing exemptions from anti-discrimination laws, so a Muslim school would not be forced to hire a Catholic teacher.

“There’s no suggestion that a school or church would be ­required to employ people not of their own faith,’’ he said.

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Mr Santow said under the proposed change complainants could seek an apology or apply for compensation through the courts.

Asked if religious discrimination was widespread, Mr Santow said: “We don’t know the scope of the problem.’’

Crossbench Senator Jacqui Lambie has introduced a private member’s bill to ban identity-concealing garments — including the burqa — from public places for “national ­security reasons’’.

A spokesman for federal ­Attorney-General George Brandis declined to comment on the AHRC proposal.