Australia needs a Religious Discrimination Act but it will need to be one hell of a draft to appropriately, intersect religious freedom and human rights and relevantly, address three big issues; all three issues concerning teaching and preaching, particularly in religious schools.
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The first big issue is the question of whether a religious educational institution could freely express a position that was contrary to the same-sex view of marriage enshrined in Australian law?
The second is the question of whether educational bodies with a religious ethos could hire staff on the basis of "mission compatibility" or on the basis that their expressed views and behaviour comply with the relevant religious position?
The third is the question of whether educational bodies with a religious ethos can fire staff if they subsequently publicly abandon their "mission compatibility" or precepts of their religiously-based employer.
Mere law is not a consensus: a Religious Discrimination Act can work only with goodwill on all sides of the political spectrum.
Brian Winship
Port Macquarie