Alliance spotlights instances of faith-based discrimination

The Human Rights Law Alliance is shining a light on faith-based discrimination, setting out 33 recent cases of disadvantage.

(Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP)

The Human Rights Law Alliance is shining a light on faith-based discrimination to coincide with the national debate over the government’s draft religious discrimination bill, setting out 33 recent cases in which Australians were disadvantaged because of faith.

The examples are cited in a document that will be sent to every MP who will vote on the proposed religious discrimin­ation act, although some individuals’ names have been changed to protect privacy.

The alliance is a not-for-profit law firm with a Christian ethos previously run by managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby, Martyn Iles.

While some cases identified by the alliance are well-known — including the dismissal of rugby star Israel Folau for posting his views on homosexuals on social media — others have not received media publicity including that of a West Australian couple who were not allowed to become respite foster carers because of their “Christian beliefs about gender and sexuality”.

Referred to as “Chris and Mary” in the document, to protect their privacy, the couple said they could not affirm or promote a sexual identity that conflicted with their Christian convictions and had been “traumatised” by the way the foster care agency had treated them. They are taking legal action.

In another example, the ­Supreme Court of Victoria found a Christian youth camp provider had discriminated against an LGBT youth group because it had turned down an application for the use of its facilities, grounds and staff.

Despite the refusal being based on religious beliefs, the Christian youth camp was unable to claim religious exemptions under the Equal Opportunity Act.

The pamphlet also identified the case of a medical practitioner who, because of her personal ­social media posts about same-sex marriage, transgenderism and radical feminist theory, was the subject of two anonymous complaints made to the medical board. As a result, “Melissa” was investigated and threatened with the indefinite suspension of her registration in a move that put her livelihood at risk.

Cases that received coverage during the same-sex marriage debate are also revisited. The pamphlet makes the case that a PwC senior executive, Mark ­Allaby, was forced to step down from the board of the Australian Christian Lobby given its support for traditional marriage.

Alliance managing director John Steenhof said discrimin­ation was occurring in a variety of ways, including through “draconian employers making rules, overzealous regulatory bodies disciplining professionals, anonymous activists weapon­ising anti-discrimination laws (and) states failing to protect ­conscience”.

“As politicians consider the legislation being proposed by government, complex and difficult as it is, I urge them to remember the lived experience of ordinary, everyday Australians who are suffering,” Mr Steenhof said.