Sept 28 2009 - PROPOSED EQUAL OPPORTUNITY CHANGES WELCOME, BUT DON’T GO FAR ENOUGH

{also} Foundation CEO, Lyn Morgain has signalled a mixed response to proposed changes to equal opportunity laws following an announcement by Attorney-General Rob Hulls on the weekend.

Ms Morgain said the proposal is welcome insofar as it will make it more difficult for religious organisations to discriminate on various grounds, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Under the proposed changes, religious bodies will no longer have blanket approval to discriminate on the basis of their beliefs, and the bar will be set significantly higher by requiring them to demonstrate why discrimination is justified in the circumstances.  

“Churches would need to justify why discrimination on religious grounds is necessary and reasonable, and how a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity is directly relevant to the issue at stake”, Ms Morgain said.

“In the area of employment for example, a religious school will have to demonstrate how a person’s sexuality or gender identity directly relates to their capacity to teach maths, or to tend the school gardens”.

“Clearly churches will face a difficult hurdle arguing the relevance of sexual orientation or gender identity when we’re talking about a person’s skills and abilities for a particular job, or their right to access goods and services.”

However, despite this welcome development, for GLBTIQ people there is a sting in the tail.  This is because for other Victorians, the proposed changes go much further.  Discrimination on grounds such as race, age and disability will not be permissible on religious grounds in ANY circumstances, yet discrimination on other grounds  including sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, pregnancy and parental status, may be permissible on religious grounds if the new test is satisfied.  .    

“What this creates is an equality hierarchy in which some groups will be fully protected from discrimination on religious grounds, whereas others, including our own community, will still face that possibility.

“Our position has always been that discrimination of any kind is intolerable, but we also recognise that a complete removal of religious exemptions from the Equal Opportunity Act was always going to be an uphill battle”, Ms Morgain said.

“The proposed changes would deliver significant improvements for the GLBTIQ community and should not be underestimated, but they also demonstrate the continued power of religious institutions in shaping public policy and the human rights debate.

“It is disappointing that full equality continues to elude us – we still have a long way to go.”