Problem:

Federal anti-discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in a wide range of settings against people on grounds including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status, or pregnancy.

However, the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) provides exemptions that allow religious organisations to discriminate based on these attributes. This means people can be lawfully discriminated against in settings like religious schools, religious healthcare and disability organisations, and religious community services.

Teacher Steph Lentz was sacked in 2021 after coming out as a lesbian at the religious school where she taught.

In 2022, a large faith-based school sent enrolment contracts to families, asking them to sign a statement that “homosexual acts” are immoral, listing them along with bestiality, incest and paedophilia as “offensive to God”. The “statement of faith” required for employment at the school also included statements implying that transgender students would only be recognised as their “biological sex” and that students should identify with “the gender that God bestowed”. The school restricted its counsellors from providing any support to students on matters of sexuality or gender identity.

In 2023 a United Nations report specifically called out religious exemptions in Australian laws which allow discrimination against LGBT people in religious schools and by faith-based service providers. The report cites cases in Australia where teachers have been fired by religious schools because of their sexual orientation, and points to government-funded faith-based service providers (like foster care and adoption agencies) that can lawfully reject people because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

In March 2024, the final report of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s inquiry into the special legal privileges that allow religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students and teachers recommended removing exemptions allowing religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students, teachers and school staff.