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