AHISA
SUBMISSION
Australian Law Reform Commission
Review of Religious Educational Institutions and
Anti-Discrimination Laws
24 February 2023
In responding
to the Commission’s consultation paper,
AHISA calls for further clarification of several aspects of the Commission’s
proposals and their potential impact not only on schools with a religious
affiliation but on single-sex schools and ethno-spiritual or cultural-spiritual
schools, including Indigenous schools.
As well as
concern for the capacity of schools to continue to build and maintain
communities of faith or cultural-spiritual identity, AHISA’s submission raises
concerns as to whether enactment of the Commission’s proposals as they stand
could lead to testing of amendments to anti-discrimination laws and definition
of terms via litigation.
AHISA’s
submission also points to religious discrimination affecting schools and their
students and recommends that the
Australian Government establish as soon as possible the office and role of a
Religious Discrimination Commissioner within the Australian Human Rights
Commission via amendment of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986.
Review of Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws – FULL SUBMISSION