Religious discrimination: what the new laws cover

Religious attire, the rights of doctors and observing the Sabbath face unprecedented scrutiny.

New religious discrimination laws closely follow recommendations in the Ruddock Review.

Scott Morrison’s religious discrimination laws cover everything from job discrimination to religious dress, the rights of doctors, and observing the Sabbath.

The Prime Minister’s plan to tackle religious discrimination in Australia closely follows recommendations in the Ruddock Review — set up after the passage of same-sex marriage — and reflect other discrimination laws for gender, sexuality, race, age and disability.

MORE: Religious discrimination bill unveiled

The religious discrimination package will come in the form of three separate bills:

• The Religious Discrimination Act 2019, prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s religious belief or activity.

• The Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019, which will amend a range of other laws to ensure the Act can be implemented — including making it easier to make complaints on the issue to the Human Rights Commission.

• The Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Freedom of Religion) Bill 2019. which will extend current human rights law, and allow charities and religious organisation to stand by the traditional definition of marriage.

The Act itself is designed to protect Australians from being discriminated against in the areas of employment, education, sport, accommodation and business on the basis of their belief.

Religious belief is defined broadly in the Bill as to cover all faiths and those who have no religious beliefs at all.

There are sections in the law which cover employer conduct rules.

For example, a business with a turnover of over $50 million must prove any rules it makes about employees’ religious dress (such as a hijab or a crucifix necklace) are necessary to avoid unjustifiable financial hardship. This rule does not apply to small business or government.

There are also guidelines in the bill over the rights of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to object on religious grounds.

It is enshrined in the bill that religious bodies are not capable of discrimination if they engage in conduct, in good faith, which is according to the tenets of religion. But they still have to abide by other discrimination laws such as the sex discrimination act.

Exemptions in the bill mainly include protections for courts and law enforcement, and ensure that religious discrimination laws do not protect people from serious offences.

There are also specific exemptions for a range of areas like the membership of religious clubs.