Presbyterian Church of Australia calls for right to ban gay students from leadership roles

The Presbyterian Church – responsible for more than 20 schools across Australia – says gay students should not be in leadership positions.

The Presbyterian Church of Australia has argued that gay students should not be eligible for leadership positions – like school captain.

In a submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review of anti-discrimination laws, the church expressed concern that LGBTIQA+ students could not offer “appropriate Christian leadership” as required by Christian schools.

The church, which runs schools across the country educating thousands of students, also wants the right to discriminate against staff who are unmarried, gay, or gender diverse if they do not “live out the whole Christian faith consistently.”

The submission comes as part of a review of proposed changes to federal laws, which would limit religious schools’ ability to discriminate based on their faith.

The Presbyterian Church is not the only faith to have made submissions supporting religious schools’ right to discriminate against students and staff based on their sexuality, gender, or marital status.

Churches have made submissions Schools defending their right to ban gay students from leadership roles. Picture: Sarah Marshall

In Victoria, more than 300,000 students are in private schools run by religious bodies.

However, some submissions to the review from church bodies warn that changes to federal laws could compromise schools’ ability to offer sex-specific uniforms, bathrooms, change rooms, and accommodations.

Leaders from the Uniting, Anglican, and Lutheran churches appear slightly more open to the proposed changes the Australian Law Reform Commission put forward.

Rainbow Families Queensland (RFQ), an advocacy body on behalf of LGBTIQA+ parents and carers and their children, were among a raft of others to make submissions in support of the legislation change.

It’s submission detailed some of the 1900-strong groups’ experiences in the states’ religious educational institutions.

Some parents reported discriminatory situations, such as being declined enrolment or being told to be discrete about their same-sex relationship, while others had positive experiences, such as being welcomed, included and accommodated.

“Changing the outdated Sex Discrimination Act exemptions and ensuring that children are protected from discrimination by association will positively influence the culture of exclusionary schools over time,” RFQ’s steering committee wrote.

The ALRC’s final report is due to be handed down to the federal Attorney-General on April 23.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said leadership qualities and sexual orientation are unrelated: Picture: Tony Gough

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles has responded by saying that students’ leadership qualities should not be tied to their sexuality.

Speaking on the Today program, he argued that leadership and the qualities of leadership were “not a function of people’s sexual orientation.”

“We can’t see a situation where we’re inadvertently discriminating against kids,” he told the program.

The government has committed to ensuring that religious schools cannot discriminate against students based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or relationship status.

It also pledged to rule out discrimination against staff based on their sexuality or gender while ensuring that religious schools can preference staff of their faith while hiring.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce told Sky News that schools should be allowed to publicly put forward their views, saying, “I just think that parents have a right to say, ‘I had these values and I want the school to have these values because that’s why I’m putting my hands in my pocket to pay money’.”

Barnaby Joyce said the Presbyterian church has a ‘right’ to voice views. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

With more than 500 congregations spread throughout Australia, the Presbyterian Church manages more than 20 schools and preschools, including renowned private schools in Sydney and Melbourne.

Other religious groups, such as the Seventh Day Adventist Church Australian Union Conference, which operates the largest Protestant education system in the world, have argued that the proposed changes would “remove the significant protections for religious educational institutions including the rights of parents who make financial sacrifices to educate their children according to their religious worldview.”

The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference criticised a proposal that would allow religious schools to teach their beliefs on sex and sexual orientation in a way that adheres to their duty of care to students and curriculum requirements.

Signed off by Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher and Archbishop Peter A Comensoli, the submission argued the proposal suggests that teaching religious doctrine may be harmful to students, which creates hostility towards religion and is “unhelpful”.

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, the peak representative body for the Muslim community in Australia, has also expressed its belief that “religious education organisations should be free to have the rules, policies and procedures of the education institution in accordance with the principles of that religion without exception.”