Parents back the right of religious schools to hire and fire on grounds of faith

‘There are lots of other places they can work.’ Why Christian schools are fighting for the right to hire and fire staff on the grounds of sexuality and extramarital pregnancy.

Norwest Christian College principal Felicity Marlow is concerned about discrimination law reform that would impact the hiring, firing and enrolment decisions of religious schools. Picture: John Feder/The Australian.

Private school parents overwhelmingly support the right of religious schools to sack teachers who breach the faith, a new survey shows.

As religious groups rail against reforms to Australia’s anti-discrimination laws for schools, the Australian Christian Schools Alliance released new polling showing strong support for the right of schools to hire and fire teachers based on their religious belief and behaviour.

Nearly 80 per cent of Australians support the right of a religious school to employ teachers and other staff who support the clearly stated values and beliefs of the school. And 57 per cent back a religious school’s right to sack staff who no longer support those values and beliefs.

Among parents with children at faith-based schools, 91 per cent supported the school’s right to sack staff on religious grounds.

Three out of four Australians support the right of a religious school to enforce standards of uniform and behaviour consistent with their values and belief.

The Compass Polling survey of 1713 adults was taken in the fortnight before the Australian Law Reform Commission recommended that schools be stripped of the right to discriminate on the grounds of religious beliefs.

The Albanese government is seeking opposition support to abolish Section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act, which lets religious schools discriminate on the grounds of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status, or pregnancy, “in order to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of that religion or creed”.

Closing the loophole would stop schools from rejecting gay or transgender students, or sacking a teacher who gets divorced, has an affair or falls pregnant outside marriage.

Christian Schools Australia public policy director Mark Spencer said the parents of 86,000 students attending Christian schools want their children to be taught Christian values. “Our schools are more on the conservative traditional end with marriage, gender and sexuality,’’ he said. “We make that clear to parents during the enrolment process and to staff during the employment process.’’

Mr Spencer said if teachers do not want to adhere to a school’s religious ethos, “there are lots of other places they can work’’.

Norwest Christian College, in Sydney’s west, has enrolled children from Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Orthodox Jewish families.

Principal Felicity Marlow said families of faith prized the school’s ethos and discipline.

“We’ve got students from 34 postcodes and 21 nationalities here,’’ she said.

“Parents are choosing us because we hold to particular values.

“We need teachers who believe in those values to their core – we need people to value the faith.

“The people we put in front of the children need to be authentic, or it’s as weak as water.’’

The principal of the Norwest Christian College, Felicity Marlow, says teachers must believe in Christian values “to their core’’

Ms Marlow said she had never dismissed a teacher for coming out as gay, getting a divorce or falling pregnant outside marriage.

But she did require staff to adhere to a “statement of values’’ that says “marriage between a man and a woman is a gracious gift from God” and that as a Christian school, all people must be treated with “dignity, respect and compassion’’.

“Hateful or harassing behaviour and attitudes directed toward any individual or group are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture,’’ it says.

Ms Marlow said students were handed the statement with enrolment documents, and staff were reminded of it every year.