Religious discrimination legislation seeks corporate blessing

Scott Morrison will try to ram the religious discrimination legislation through parliament this week and set up a pre-­election clash with Labor on faith protections

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash says ‘we are bringing forward credible, practical legislation that has the support of religious groups, business groups and the majority of Australians’. Picture: Martin Ollman

Scott Morrison will try to ram the religious discrimination legislation through parliament this week and set up a pre-­election clash with Labor on faith protections, as the government finalises amendments to allay the concerns of business groups and moderate Liberal MPs.

The Australian understands a key amendment will make clearer protections for businesses, ensuring it is not discriminatory for an employer to take reasonable management action in relation to employees.

Government MPs will also discuss amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act, considered crucial to securing the support of moderate Liberal MPs, which will occur in tandem with the passing of a religious discrimin­ation bill.

The amendments, which are being resisted by some senior Coalition conservative MPs, will remove a clause exempting ­religious schools from discriminating against a student on the basis of sexual orientation.

Ahead of federal parliament returning this week, Attorney-General Michaelia Cash met with opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus on Sunday following the release of two parliamentary committee reports examining the religious discrimination bill.

Mark Dreyfus. Picture: AAP

With only five Senate sitting days scheduled before a likely May federal election, Mr Morrison intends to push the bill through the House of Representatives on Tuesday and ask the upper house to rubberstamp legislation by the end of the week.

“We are bringing forward credible, practical legislation that has the support of religious groups, business groups and the majority of Australians,” Senator Cash told The Australian.

“If this legislation is not passed, every member of parliament who voted against it will have to explain to constituents why they do not back protections for people with religious beliefs.”

The government is expected to rely on Labor, which will hold a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday afternoon, to get it through the upper house given the likelihood rogue Coalition senators will continue to withhold their votes in protest against vaccine mandates. Seven Labor frontbenchers hold seats with high No votes in the 2017 same-sex ­marriage plebiscite, including Chris Bowen, Tony Burke, Jason Clare and Ed Husic.

Senator Cash’s compromise to get the government’s 2019 election promise over the line comes as Tasmanian Archbishop Julian Porteous warned against softening protections. Archbishop Porteous, who was hauled before an anti-discrimination body for sharing church teaching on gay marriage, said changes to protect gay students and staff at religious schools were “unnecessary”.

Employer bodies, including the Australian Industry Group, on Sunday softened their opposition to elements of the legislation after Senator Cash agreed to protect against “unintended consequences” in relation to discrimination in workplaces

The extra support for businesses will ensure employers are clearly permitted to comply with legal obligations, including meeting ­existing workplace, health and safety obligations.

Senior government sources said a provision dealing with the burden of proof for the test of indirect discrimination would also be inserted.

This would let employers insist on a condition restricting a person’s ability to manifest their religious beliefs but the employer would need to show how this condition was “reasonable”.

Other SDA exemptions around staff at religious schools will be considered by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s review into the framework of ­religious exemptions in anti-­discrimination law, which is due to report 12 months after the religious protections legislation passes through parliament.

Senator Cash said 82 per cent of the more than 48,000 respondents to the human rights committee’s survey supported the religious discrimination bill before the parliament. “Through the consultation process, we have heard countless stories of discrimination of Australians with religious beliefs, particularly those in religious minorities,” she said.

“Threats of violence, discrimination and racism just because of someone’s deeply held belief should not be tolerated anywhere in Australia. As a country, we should strive to ensure everyone has equal protection under law.”

Senator Cash said after majority recommendations from the joint parliamentary and Senate committees were signed off by government and opposition MPs, “the bills should now be passed this week”.

Mr Dreyfus said the parliamentary committees, which reported last Friday, had shown the “legislation raises a number of complex issues”.

“Already we’ve seen the government indicate that changes to the legislation introduced by the Prime Minister are necessary.

“Labor will now wait to see these changes before caucus finalises the party’s position on the legislation,” he said.

AiGroup chief executive Innes Willox said employers welcomed Senator Cash’s pledge to “ensure appropriate standards of conduct are maintained in their workplaces … Employers work very hard to maintain diverse and inclusive workplaces.

“They also work hard to maintain safe and healthy workplaces, including protecting employees from the psychological harm which often results from harassment,” Mr Willox said.

“The proposed changes to the bill will protect against unintended consequences in these areas.”

BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott said improvements to the bill would provide “greater certainty for business”.

“Businesses need a workable set of rules to enable them to be fair to everyone. We welcome changes that will protect religious belief without introducing new opportunities to discriminate against others,” she said.