Australian Government releases Federal Religious Discrimination Bills – genuine consultation or playing politics?
On 29 August, Attorney General Christian Porter announced a package of draft Bills dealing with religious discrimination. They come in the wake of the termination of Israel Folau’s player contract by Rugby Australia for his social media posts vilifying homosexuals and others, although the issue has actually been simmering away on the Government’s agenda for quite some time. The centrepiece of these proposals is the Religious Discrimination Bill 2019 which provides comprehensive protection against discrimination on the basis of religious belief or activity and establishes a new office of Freedom of Religion Commissioner. The other draft Bills released – the Religious Discrimination (Consequential Amendments Bill) 2019 and the Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Freedom of Religion Bill) 2019 – propose to amend existing legislation to support the centrepiece, including altering the Fair Work Act 2009 to include the proposed Religious Discrimination Act 2019 in t...