QLD

Stop the anti-faith
Anti-Discrimination Bill

In February 2024, the Queensland Government released their draft Anti-Discrimination Bill. If passed, this legislation would be the most repressive regime in Australia for restricting religious freedom. It dramatically undermines the ability for faith organisations to employ people who uphold their faith.

The legislation means that a religious organisation (church, mosque, temple, charity or school) can only require their staff to live in accordance with the faith if it is “reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances”. This means judges and bureaucrats will be deciding what is “reasonable” for a faith to believe and require.

The legislation also completely prevents religious organisations from considering “other protected attributes” like sexuality, gender, or relationship status.

This means that:

A Jewish school could refuse to employ someone if they eat pork, but not if they are moonlighting as a prostitute

A Christian church could require employees to say they believe that sex should remain within heterosexual marriage, but cannot require them to live that way
A Muslim women’s group could refuse to employ a woman who is not wearing a hijab, but not if they were a biological male who has ‘transitioned’.

Breaking news: The Courier Mail has reported that the Government have dismissed the concerns raised by faith leaders, and still plan to introduce the legislation before the October election.

Tell your MP that THIS BILL NEEDS TO BE FIXED