Federal
Title
The Bill sets two standards: one for religious organisations, and one for all other organisations.
Other organisations do not face the same levels of restriction when it comes to discrimination around employment.
The Bill says that (secular) employers can discriminate on any basis if it is a genuine occupational requirement. The example given is a political party requiring an employee to be a member of that party for them to work as an advisor.
28 Genuine occupational requirements generally
- A person may discriminate against a person in relation to a position if the discrimination—
- is based on a genuine occupational requirement for the position: and
- is reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances
Examples of genuine occupational requirements for a position—
- using membership of a particular political party as a criterion for a position as an adviser to a political party or a worker in the office of a member of Parliament
- preferencing people on the basis of age for a peer support position in a service for children and young people
This means that employers can discriminate on any basis if it is a genuine occupational requirement.
Religious organisations, on the other hand, are restricted to clause 29, which allows them only to discriminate on the basis of religious belief and religious activity if holding that belief or participating in that activity is a genuine occupational requirement.
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