Bill would make NSW anti-discrimination law consistent
Without very much fanfare, a very significant bill was tabled in the NSW Parliament last week. The Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020 was introduced by Mark Latham MLC and, if passed, offers the most meaningful protections to people of faith in this state in recent memory.
It may come as a surprise to many, but it is not illegal to discriminate against someone in NSW on the basis of religious belief or activity. A priest who was denied service in a café because he was a priest would have no claim in current anti-discrimination laws, nor would any Catholic (or Anglican or Muslim or Jew) for that matter. If the same café turned away a person on the basis of their age or sex or race or disability, then the one turned away would be able to seek recourse for the discrimination suffered.
Vilification on the grounds of homosexuality or transgender status is prohibited under current anti-discrimination laws; religious vilification receives no such protection. Read more via Catholic Weekly
Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020
Explanatory Note : This Explanatory Note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.
Overview of Bill :The object of this Bill is to amend the Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (the Act) as follows—
(a) to establish principles of the Act for the purpose of reconciling conflicting human rights and anti-discrimination provisions, using international conventions and other instruments,
(b) to define religious beliefs and activities in a comprehensive and contemporary way, making religious freedoms and the fair treatment of believers and non-believers possible,
(c) to prohibit discrimination on the ground of a person’s religious beliefs or religious activities in work and other areas, so that religion has protections equal to other forms of discrimination in NSW,
(d) to prohibit discrimination against people who do not have any religious conviction, belief, opinion or affiliation,
(e) to provide that a religious ethos organisation is taken not to discriminate on the ground of religious beliefs or religious activities by engaging in certain conduct because of the doctrines, tenets, beliefs or teachings of the religion of the organisation, so as to recognise that religion is integral to the existence and purpose of these organisations; and that religious and associational freedoms are fundamental to a free and democratic society.
(f) to make it unlawful for an employer, qualifying body or educational authority to restrict, limit, prohibit or otherwise prevent people from engaging in a protected activity, or to punish or sanction them for doing so, or for their associates doing so,
(g) to ensure the provisions of the Bill extend to discrimination concerning applicants and employees, commission agents, contract workers, partnerships, industrial organisations, qualifying bodies, employment agencies, education, goods and services, accommodation, registered clubs and State laws and programs, and
(h) to limit exceptions to this part of the Act to those specified, such as for religious ethos organisations and genuine occupational qualifications, rather than encouraging tribunal activism. Read the full document via NSW Parliament