‘We’re fast losing faith,’ community groups warn Anthony Albanese

An unlikely alliance of faith groups, equality advocates, the Coalition and Greens demand the PM intervene to save his religious discrimination bill or concede the reforms are dead.

Anthony Albanese in question time on Wednesday. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

An unlikely alliance of faith groups, equality advocates, the Coalition and the Greens are ­demanding Anthony Albanese ­either intervene to save his long-promised religious discrimination bill or tell them the reforms are dead in this term of parliament.

The Anglican Church, Christian schools, the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils and Equality Australia joined the political parties in urging the Prime Minister to make clear the status of the reforms, which they say are crucial to the Australians they represent and should be pursued.

There has been no progress on Labor’s draft religious discrimination laws since late May when talks between Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and opposition legal affairs spokeswoman ­Michaelia Cash broke down and Mr Albanese said he wouldn’t pursue the changes without bipartisan support.

Some Labor MPs are keen for the government to drop the draft laws, noting Mr Albanese and Mr Dreyfus didn’t want religious discrimination politicised.

Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Michael Stead, and Christian Schools Australia director of public policy, Mark Spencer, said there was a path forward for Mr Albanese because the opposition would support the churches’ proposed amendments to better protect religious schools in Labor’s draft laws, which were put to the government on May 9. There had been “radio silence” since.

“If the reported blow up between the Attorney-General and the shadow attorney-general is the problem, then the Prime ­Minister needs to step in, exercise his leadership, and make a pathway forward,” Mr Spencer said.

“If this parliament fails people of faith, as happened in the last parliament, our school communities will be devastated.

“We are pleading with the government to deliver on its promises. If this doesn’t happen, we will be seeking very clear and unequivocal commitments prior to the ­election with a timeframe for their implementation.”

Dr Stead also wanted assurances from the government that, if reforms didn’t proceed in this parliament, it would honour its pre-2022 election commitment that faith-based schools would be able to employ staff who supported the religious ethos of the school in the next term.

The proposal the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference put to Mr Dreyfus in May, as revealed in The Australian, allows for the removal of section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act but says it should be replaced by more precise protections for religious schools and corporations.

A similar plan was put forward by the Anglicans. Pregnant or breastfeeding students could not be discriminated against.

Sources familiar with the Catholic proposal said it was designed to ensure schools would not be discriminating against a student because they were gay, but were permitted to respond to conduct that would undermine their ethos.

“We are keen to hear the government’s position,” Dr Stead said. “We had a constructive meeting with the Prime Minister and ­Attorney-General in April, at which we were invited to suggest amendments so that faith-based schools would not go backwards. We put these to the government on 9 May. We have had nothing but radio silence from the government since then.”

AFIC president Rateb Jneid asked the government to engage in further consultation with faith communities regarding their concerns with the Australian Law Reform Commission’s recommendations on religious discrimination laws. He said he wanted a “genuine process to find a suitable way forward”.

“The need for a religious discrimination bill is greater now than it has ever been due to the significant increase in Islamophobia and anti-Muslim rhetoric and actions since the Gaza crisis began,” Dr Jneid said. “We urge all parties to honour their commitments to faith communities to enact legislation that protects faith adherents from discrimination and incitement.”

Equality Australia, advocating for LGBTIQ+ Australians, said the government should seek to legislate “these long-overdue protections” with or without the Coalition’s involvement.

The group’s chief executive, Anna Brown, said: “Australians are genuinely shocked to discover that religious schools, which rely on billions of dollars of public funding, can legally fire a woman for falling pregnant outside of marriage or expel a student because they are gay or trans. If the government fails to pass laws this term, they will have broken their election promise and betrayed all the vulnerable students and teachers around Australia. It will come as a crushing blow for those waiting for better protections including women, people who are divorced or in de facto relationships and people of faith.”

The Prime Minister told ­caucus the passage of his ­government’s religious discrimination reforms would be conditional on bipartisan support, before flagging possible negotiations with the Greens and Senate crossbench.

Scott Morrison was forced to shelve his proposed religious discrimination bill in 2022 due to a stalemate and internal divisions. Only the Coalition has received copies of Labor’s draft laws.

Pressed last month on whether his religious discrimination reforms were “dead”, Mr Albanese said the government was awaiting a response from the Coalition.

Mr Dreyfus’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday the government was seeking an enduring solution that strengthened protection for students, teachers and people of faith.

“That’s why we’ve consistently said bipartisan support is essential,” she said. “The opposition has still not told the government its position on our proposed religious discrimination bills, which they have had since March 2024.”

Senator Cash said she had told Mr Dreyfus that he and the government should take heed of the feedback from religious leaders, produce a revised draft of the legislation and release it publicly.

“It is time the Prime Minister and his Attorney-General made it clear to all Australians the status of their secret religious freedom bills,” Senator Cash said.

“There has now been months of obfuscation by the government on this matter. Are they actually going to deal with this issue during this term of government or not? The government has drafted three bills but the Australian people are none the wiser about what’s in those bills because the government refuses to release them.”

“What we do know is that faith communities have serious concerns that those bills will take them backwards, not forwards. They gave the government very detailed written feedback about how the current draft legislation is inadequate.

“We also know the Prime Minister made a commitment to religious groups that they ‘will not go backwards’ while he is Prime Minister. It is critical that he keep that commitment to people of faith in this parliament, and in any future parliament.”

Greens LGBTQIA+ spokesman Stephen Bates called on Labor to deliver the ALRC’s recommendations on religious discrimination reforms “in whole as soon as possible”, saying his party was ready to work with the government and crossbench.

The ALRC recommended removing section 38 of the SDA altogether, as has the government, and suggested a significant winding back of protections for religious institutions in the Fair Work Act. Separate religious freedom protections should be included in a future religious discrimination act, it said. The ALRC’s recommendations have been fiercely resisted by faith groups and the opposition.

“Just in the last few months we’ve seen stories of LGBTIQA+ teachers fired for no reason but being themselves,” Mr Bates said.

“Being gay doesn’t mean you can’t teach maths. Without these reforms, Labor are condemning these workers to the constant fear of losing their jobs for reasons that have nothing to do with their work. Without these reforms, LGBTIQA+ people who want to practise their faith will continue to be ostracised.

“Labor needs to show us their draft legislation this week so we can all get on with the job of delivering these reforms before the next election, as they promised.”

National Catholic Education Commission executive director and former Labor senator, Jacinta Collins, said the Catholic sector would welcome a path forward that continued to ensure its schools could authentically build a community of faith.“If that’s not achievable in this term of government, the current exemptions provide some assurance for faith-based schools to employ staff who are willing to support the ethos of their schools,” she said.