Islamic College of Brisbane and Queensland Churches Together oppose Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024
David Baker and Ali Kadri fear the bill will stifle religious freedom. (ABC Radio Brisbane: Kenji Sato)
Proposed anti-discrimination laws will stifle religious freedom and inflame "culture wars" within faith-based schools, a coalition of Brisbane religious leaders say.
The Islamic College of Brisbane and Queensland Churches Together have voiced objections to a Queensland draft anti-discrimination bill that is before state parliament.
The amended laws would ban schools from discriminating against staff on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, or political belief.
Additionally, it would prevent schools from hiring discrimination on the basis of religious belief, unless the role explicitly involved teaching religious beliefs.
Islamic College of Brisbane chief executive Ali Kadri said parents who sent their children to a religious school typically wanted the teachers to share the religious values of that school.
"What this bill proposes is very vaguely changing the rights we have to require our staff members to follow certain ethos and values while they're in our institution," he said.
"It's trying to solve a problem, which doesn't exist. It pitches rights against rights, and it leads to culture wars in educational institutions where the main focus should be education."
Mr Kadri said the majority of teachers at his school were already non-Muslim or atheist.
Loading...He said given the shortage of teachers in the state, few religious schools were in the habit of denying employment to teachers who did not share their religion.
The proposed laws would also prevent schools from discriminating against teachers with prior sex work history, extramarital relationship status, trade union activity, or an irrelevant criminal record.
Churches fear loss of freedom
Queensland Churches Together general secretary Reverend David Baker said the bill was a betrayal of all faith communities in the state.
The religious network has sent a joint letter to Queensland Premier Steven Miles raising objections to the proposed anti-discrimination laws.
Their main concern was the vagueness of the stipulation that schools must prove "genuine occupational requirement" in order to hire staff on the basis of religious belief.
Reverend Baker said the bill would stifle religious freedoms and prevent schools from operating in accordance with their religious beliefs.
"We think this is an undue restriction on the ability of parents and schools to be able to operate freely in an open society," he said.
"It's a further restriction on the freedom of faith-based schools to choose staff that live out and believe consistently with the faith of that school."
Protecting teachers from unfair dismissal
Queensland Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace said the bill would protect teachers and job applicants from workplace discrimination.
Minister Grace Grace says the proposed laws are about protecting people from discrimination. (AAP: Darren England)
"We think everyone in the workplace deserves to be treated with respect and to not be discriminated against," Ms Grace said.
"Our proposals are about making sure nobody is treated discriminatively."
Premier Steven Miles said the government would take onboard the concerns of Queensland's religious communities.
"I appreciate the effort that the faith leaders have gone to to outline their views to us, and of course we'll take them into account," Mr Miles said.