Anglican schools’ ethos concerns

Sydney Anglican grammar school Shore head Tim Wright says religious freedom protections are inadequate and poorly framed

Sydney Anglican grammar school Shore headmaster Tim Wright.

The headmaster of Sydney Anglican grammar school Shore, Tim Wright, says religious freedom protections are inadequate and poorly framed after signing a ­letter to federal MPs amid a political row over the treatment of gay ­teachers.

The Australian revealed yesterday that the principals of the 34 Sydney Anglican diocese schools — including Shore, The King’s School and Abbotsleigh — had signed a letter to all ­federal MPs warning that a push to better protect gay teachers, championed by Labor and Greens MPs, could have unintended consequences.

They warn the push could leave faith-based educators ­legally exposed for hiring only staff who support the religious mission of the school.

Dr Wright yesterday suggested the existing protections for religious organisations in the Sex Discrimination Act were ­“clumsy” because they were ­enshrined in the form of exemptions to anti-discrimination legislation.

Instead of upholding the ability of religious schools to act in ­accordance with their ethos, the current legal protections are framed in a way that allow faith-based schools the ability to ­“discriminate” in some circumstances.

Dr Wright said this had skewed the debate over religious freedoms, with a political panic erupting in the week before the crucial by-election in Wentworth — home to one of the largest LGBTI communities in Australia. Speaking on ABC radio, he provided an assurance that Anglican schools did not use existing exemptions to turn away gay students or teachers.

“We’ve actually described in the letter, and you cannot miss it — that they are clumsy protections and we actually would far prefer if those went (and) that there was something in its place in Australian law,” he said.

Dr Wright argued that faith- based organisations should “have a right to their ­religious freedom and to what they state and what they pursue”.

“There hasn’t been a gay staff member sacked from an Anglican school in my memory. In fact, generally speaking, at interview the question we ask is — are you able to support the Christian ethos of the school,” he said.

St Andrew’s Cathedral School headmaster John Collier also argued for the government to depart from the existing model where religious freedoms were protected through exemptions to anti-discrimination law.

“We are urging the government to move away from the language of discrimination into positive legislation, which is ­actually about preserving freedoms,” he told Sky News.

Dr Collier said Australia was a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which upheld religious freedom, suggesting the government should introduce more ­robust protections. “We would assert that the need for schools to employ people who are fundamentally in support of the school’s ethos is basic to the school’s existence,” he said.