Published: 27 December 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
THE COUNTRY'S TOP JEWISH BODY has warned draft religious freedom laws could restrict the power of religious hospitals, aged care facilities and housing providers to give preference to people of their own faith when admitting patients or choosing board members.
In the latest call for the laws to give more power to religious bodies, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry's head, Peter Wertheim, said hospitals, aged care homes and accommodation providers should maintain the same rights as schools to decide exactly who can benefit from their services.
This stands in contrast to comments from the federal Attorney-General Christian Porter, who last month said that in reality religious hospitals and aged care homes "do not appear" to discriminate in service delivery and did not want to.
The second draft of the contentious bill gave religious health facilities the same power as religious schools to discriminate on the basis of religion when it comes to choosing staff. But Mr Wertheim said this should be extended to choosing board members, as well as service delivery to patients and clients.
FULL STORY Top Jewish body wants more power for religious hospitals, aged care homes in discrimination bill (SMH)
Amended religious freedom bill ‘deeply flawed’, says Law Council (Australian)
The nation’s peak legal body has condemned the Morrison government’s revised religious discrimination bill, declaring it remains “a deeply flawed piece of legislation” that puts freedom of religious expression ahead of other human rights.
Law Council of Australia president Arthur Moses SC said Attorney-General Christian Porter should not take “any comfort” from some religious bodies expressing support for recent changes to the draft legislation.
“The important question is whether it is in the best interests of all Australians and harmony in Australian society,” Mr Moses said. “It remains a deeply flawed piece of legislation.
“Our strength as a nation is our belief in the rights and freedoms of all Australians. Laws which favour one right over another, as the proposed religious discrimination bill does, weaken the rights of everybody, and should be a major concern for all Australians.”
Under changes to the legislation unveiled this month by Mr Porter and Scott Morrison, churches, faith-based schools, hospitals and charities will be able to discriminate on hiring staff based on their religious beliefs.
Mr Moses said the changes did not improve the bill, warning its passage through parliament would create an “ad hoc approach to rights” and risked causing confusion in the courts and the community.
“Prioritising the freedom of religious expression over other human rights, such as protections against discrimination based on gender, race, disability, age or sexual orientation, is difficult to justify in modern Australia,” Mr Moses said.
Photo: Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim (NSWJBoD)
