The Religious Discrimination Bill 2019 (the Bill) prohibits discrimination on the ground of religious belief or activity in key areas of public life.
The Religious Freedom Review recognised that there is an opportunity to enhance the statutory protection of the right to freedom of religion in Australia.
The right to freedom of religion protects both the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief and the freedom to manifest that belief.
The right to freedom of religion importantly not only protects people who hold religious beliefs, but also protects the right not to hold a religious belief and the right not to engage in religious activities.
In addition to these rights, international human rights law also protects the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of one’s religious belief or activity, and the right to equal effective protection against such discrimination.
All Australians, regardless of their religious belief or activity, should be able to participate fully in our society. All people are entitled not to be discriminated against on the basis of their religious belief or activities in public life, and are entitled to the equal and effective protection of the law.
Existing federal anti-discrimination legislation advances the rights to equality and non-discrimination for a wide variety of attributes. However, current protections in Commonwealth, state and territory laws for discrimination on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity are piecemeal, have limited application and are inconsistent across jurisdictions.
In order to address this gap in Australia´s statutory anti-discrimination framework, the Religious Freedom Review recommended that the Commonwealth develop a Religious Discrimination Act to render it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity.
In implementing this recommendation, this Bill will introduce comprehensive federal protections to prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s religious belief or activity in a wide range of areas of public life, including in relation to employment, education, access to premises, the provision of goods, services and facilities, and accommodation.
This Bill will bring legislative protections for religious belief and activity to the same standard as those already afforded under federal anti-discrimination law to discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, family responsibilities, marital or relationship status, pregnancy or potential pregnancy, breastfeeding, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, descent or immigrant status.
Source: Exposure Draft Of The Religious Discrimination Bill 2019: Explanatory Notes