RSA Daily

For atheists, rationalists and secular humanists in Australia

Friday, March 22, 2024

Good morning ,

By the time you read this, it may be all over bar the shouting. Labor may well have reneged on its promise to overhaul the Sex Discrimination Act in order to fix the current regime of religious-based discrimination by religious schools, hospitals etc. Read the background in our Lead Stories.

Lead stories

We have written to all Labor MPs urging them to take the opportunity of the Religious Discrimination bill to stop the continuing discrimination against non-religious Australians. Read our letter! [Note: we've also written to AG Mark Dreyfus asking to meet with him over these matters. He has met with religious groups but fails to meet with us, the Atheists, the Humanists or any other non-religious group].

Professor Luke Beck explains the background to the Religious Discrimination bill, citing 2 distinct issues:

• The first issue is about religious discrimination. This means ensuring people are not discriminated against on the basis of their religious beliefs, or lack of religious beliefs.
• The second issue is religious exemptions, which involves allowing discrimination on the basis of sexuality, gender identity, marital status and so on where the discrimination has a religious motivation. For example, the Sex Discrimination Act currently prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, sexuality, gender identity and marital status, but also includes an exemption that allows religious schools to discriminate against students and teachers.

And a person who worked for Christian Schools Australia writes in the RSA's online magazine, Rationale: "It is a Christian duty and a moral human duty to speak out against injustice, regardless of the rejection that it may cause at times. And that’s why I am writing this piece about the discrimination that takes place in faith-based schools – discrimination that is funded by taxpayers."

Labor's version of a Religious Discrimination law "is expected to allow religious schools the right to employ staff or enrol students on the basis of their faith" but with "additional protections against discrimination for employees and students who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community". Opposition spokesperson Michaela Cash says "bipartisan support might not be possible" because she has heard "very concerning things" from stakeholders. What's the bet Labor will back off?

Other stories of interest

Australia already has religious freedom

Interesting stance from someone at Sky News!

How much have temperatures risen in countries across the world?

"climate change does not affect all areas of the globe uniformly .. " The excellent Our World in Data provides an interactive map which shows monthly temperature anomalies by country.

What People Don't Understand About the Gender Theorist Who Remade Our World

Haven't had the time to read this fully - a review of Judith Butler's latest book, Who's Afraid of Gender. Anyone like to provide a summary?

Independents move to ban mega donations in far-reaching political transparency overhaul

Tweedledum and Tweedledee do cooperate sometimes ...

Got a comment on any of these stories? 

Write to me at president@rationalist.com.au

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