‘Folau clause’ junked amid discrimination bill revamp

Religious schools would need to publicly declare whether they preference hiring people of faith under the Morrison government’s revamped discrimination bill.

The Morrison government’s watered-down proposal junks the so-called “Folau clause” proposed in the draft discrimination bill. Picture: AAP

Religious schools would need to publicly declare whether they preference hiring people of faith under the Morrison government’s revamped discrimination bill.

The Australian understands the religious discrimination bill, to be tabled in parliament next week, will require faith-based schools to have a publicly available employment policy stating whether they would favour hiring people of the same faith.

The Morrison government’s watered-down proposal – which junks the so-called “Folau clause” proposed in the draft bill – would override a push by the Andrews government to make it harder for religious schools to preference hiring staff of the same faith.

Conservative government MPs are concerned the proposals will offer insufficient protection for people of faith, while moderate Liberal MPs are worried it will remain fiercely opposed by the gay and transgender community.

Education Minister Alan Tudge said it would not be lawful for a religious school to sack someone if they were gay under the government’s legislation. “The bill will allow religious schools to employ people of their own faiths,” he told Sky News.

“Now this is a critical principle at stake here, because ... you can’t be a Catholic school if you can’t employ Catholic teachers. You can’t be a Muslim school without employing Muslim teachers.

“That has been under threat. It’s particularly been under threat by the Labor government here in my home state of Victoria, where they have legislation which would actually prohibit that occurring, which is just a further mechanism to undermine Catholic and other religious schools.”

Polling commissioned by Christian Schools Australia showed 79 per cent of respondents were in favour of religious schools having the right “to employ teachers and staff who support the values and beliefs of the school”.

The poll of more than 1500 people showed 66 per cent of Greens voters, 77 per cent of Labor voters and 90 per cent of Liberal voters were in favour of religious schools having the right to hire based on faith.

The bill is expected to be referred to a Senate inquiry if it passes the House of Representatives in the next fortnight of parliament, which would delay it from becoming law until next year.

The government would need Labor’s support to get the bill through the Senate, given One Nation and Coalition senators Gerard Rennick and Alex Antic are abstaining from voting until Scott Morrison disavows state-based mandatory vaccination laws.

Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus said Labor was “ready to work with the government on a religious discrimination bill”.

“We are still to be shown any legislation, and will wait for the government to introduce an actual bill into the parliament before determining our position,” he said.

Under the Folau clause proposed in last year’s draft bill, companies with a turnover of more than $50m had to prove an ­employee’s religious statement – including sexist or homophobic ones — would cause financial harm before taking action.

The government has removed the clause but retained exemptions ensuring professional bodies cannot strike off people on the grounds of their religious ­beliefs.

Coalition MPs were briefed on the bill on Monday by Attorney-General Michaelia Cash but have not seen the full details.

Conservative Liberal senator Eric Abetz said he had been a supporter of Folau’s right to speak against gay relationships while the rugby player was a representative of the Wallabies.

Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said “no deal is better than a flawed bill” when it came to religious discrimination legislation.

Equality Australia chief executive Anna Brown said the government had “retained some of the worst provisions of the bill … These provisions undermine everyone’s right to respect and dignity at work, school and whenever they access goods and ser­vices like healthcare.”

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