Reject the Religious Discrimination Bill
Together we can stop these laws and keep Australia free from discrimination
Keep Australia Free From Discrimination
Everyone should be able to go about their lives free from discrimination.
But the Morrison Government is writing laws that would see people discriminate against their fellow Australians in ways that will affect all of us.
Australia is a great country and we need your help to stop these invasive laws and to keep Australia free from discrimination.
Join the campaign today.
10 Things You Should Know…
What will these laws do?
The proposed Religious Discrimination Bill affects everyone. It will make it easier for people to impose their beliefs on others. It will allow people to discriminate against their fellow Australians.
The laws would override all federal, state and territory anti-discrimination laws in the country, as well as work health and safety laws, meaning all laws which currently protect people from discrimination would be compromised.
If the Morrison government passes these laws:
1.
A pharmacist could refuse to provide birth control to a young unmarried woman, leaving her at risk and feeling isolated and demeaned.
2.
A church-run early learning centre could refuse to accept children whose parents don’t attend church.
3.
A doctor could refuse to treat a person with a disability seeking stem cell treatment.
4.
A Christian worker could be ridiculed by his boss in front of colleagues and have no recourse if the boss was making a ‘statement of religious belief’.
5.
An elderly same-sex couple could be confronted in their nursing home with posters saying ‘Being gay is a sin’.
6.
A religious school could refuse to hire a gardener, accountant or tuckshop manager unless they produced a reference from the local religious organisation as evidence of their faith.
7.
A woman working for a boss who says her divorce was a sin because women should submit to their husbands would have no avenue of complaint.
8.
A person with mental illness who was bullied at work would have no recourse if the bullies were making ‘statements of religious belief’.
9.
Rideshare drivers could refuse to carry passengers carrying a ham they won at a Christmas raffle.
10.
Medical centres might be pressured to announce denial of care to people wanting advice on contraception or vasectomies because of the religious views of their doctors.
What can I do?
This isn’t the kind of country any of us want to live in.
Together, let’s send a message to our representatives in the Federal Parliament, explaining how the Morrison government’s Religious Discrimination Bill will hurt everyday Australians, and urge them to reject it.
We need your help to stop these laws and to keep Australia free from division.
Join the campaign to stop the Religious Discrimination bill.
Join and Sign the Petition
Don’t let them divide us. Together we can stop this law and keep Australia free from discrimination.
Enter your details to sign the petition and join the campaign.
Latest News
Liberal MP Warren Entsch blasts Religious Discrimination Bill
By Jordan Hirst for Q News Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch has warned he’ll vote against his government’s controversial Religious Discrimination...
Religious freedom advocacy groups must come clean, Michael Kirby says
By Naomi Neilson in Lawyers Weekly In response to a Christian group’s “lobbying blitz” and in criticising organised religion for failing to “lift...
‘Australians are very skeptical’: Michael Kirby warns against ‘excessive protection’ of religious freedoms
By Paul Karp at The Guardian Former justice says religious rights can’t come at expense of minorities or the 70% of Australians who say religion is...
‘Right-wing backlash’: Church group to make religious freedom an election issue
By Michael Koziol in the Sydney Morning Herald The Morrison government has placed religious freedom back on the political agenda, as...
No law yet to ban religious schools from expelling LGBT students
By Jessi Lewis - The Star Observer Three years after Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government would enact a law to ban religious schools...
The Religious Discrimination Bill is ready to go
In a confidential webinar this month, Liberal MP Kevin Andrews revealed that the Morrison government’s Religious Discrimination Bill has been...
More News
Human rights legislation a better option than Australia’s proposed religious freedom reforms, say lawyers
By Christopher Gilbert for Sight Magazine Australians would be better served through new human rights legislation with proven mechanisms to...
Scott Morrison urged to prioritise religious freedoms
By Richard Ferguson in The Australian Australia’s faith leaders are urging Scott Morrison to put the implementation of a Religious Discrimination...
Religious discrimination bill will create an unholy mess
Opinion - by Alistair Lawrie in The Sydney Morning Herald One Nation’s Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020...
‘Christians are not victims’: church leader slams religious freedom bill
By Angus Thompson in the The Sydney Morning Herald The leader of a major church group says it is disingenuous to portray Australian Christians as...
Sydney Anglicans, religious schools declare support for Latham discrimination bill
By Michael Koziol in the Sydney Morning Herald A number of powerful interest groups including the Sydney Anglican Diocese, the Association of...
Why freedom of religion won’t likely trump public health interests with a future COVID-19 vaccine
Photograph: Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fischer By Bianca di Marchi - AAP Religious objections to vaccinations have been around almost as long as...
Australia: Religious Discrimination Bill – Hard cases make bad law
By Emily Wittig and Geoff Baldwin in Mondaq In 2019, the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, released a draft Religious Discrimination Bill aimed at...
How access to contraception works in Australia, and why we need to protect it
By Ella Bazzani-Hockley - Fashion Journal Why is a woman’s right to access contraception even up for debate? In 1961, the release of the oral...
Australia’s first trans-led legal service hit with wave of concern over religious discrimination bill
Photograph: Sam Elkin, lawyer with the Roberta Perkins Law Project, Australia’s first trans-led legal service for trans and gender diverse people....
Australia: Will religious organisations continue to receive exemptions to discriminate under the Religious Discrimination Act?
By Jacob Reddie - Mondaq Following the Coalition's surprise election victory, religious discrimination laws appear to be one of the first issues to...
Coronavirus: Policy brakes applied on religious freedom and anti-corruption body
By Greg Brown - The Australian Scott Morrison has flagged delays in key elements of his pre-coronavirus agenda, saying cabinet has shelved...
COMMENT || Discrimination in the name of religion the aim of proposed law
By Anthony Haneveer - The Advocate An unexpected letter arrived in my letterbox last week that I found myself oddly happy to have received....
Inner West Council votes ‘no’ to Religious Discrimination Bill
By Mike Hitch - Star Observer The Inner West Council (IWC) has officially taken a stand against the coalition government’s proposed religious...
New ‘Folau style case’ brews as Christians vow to support disgraced doctor
By Andrew Koubaridis - The Herald Sun The Australian Christian Lobby has vowed to support and bankroll a disgraced Melbourne doctor who targeted...
Christian lobby’s crusade for offensive GP shows why government must dump Religious Discrimination Bill
MEDIA RELEASE The Australian Christian Lobby is seeking to reignite the divisive religious battleground of the Israel Folau saga by backing a...
Politicians urged to stand against state anti-bias law
By Rodney Croome - Opinion - The Examiner In the mid 1990s, Tasmania's Liberals screamed "state rights" when Canberra moved to override our...
‘A right to be nasty’: Older Australians at risk under religious discrimination bill
By Andrew Taylor - The Age Legal experts have warned that LGBTQ people in aged care facilities will be at risk of ridicule, humiliation and...
Do we really need religious freedom legislation?
Few issues have so divided Australians in the past couple of years as the federal government’s promise to enact religious freedom legislation, not least because the farther edges of its advocates and opponents distrust each other so vehemently.
Proposed bill will enshrine religion’s right to discriminate
Born out of the contentious debate over same-sex marriage, the religious discrimination bill was always going to attract its fair share of...
Sporting bodies lash government’s proposed religious freedom bill
Australia’s biggest sporting bodies – including the AFL, NRL, FFA and Cricket Australia – have written a scathing response to the federal government’s proposed religious freedom bill.
Exceptions for religious organisations in proposed Bill are too wide
The religious discrimination bill has had plenty of attention in the past few months. It was first released for public comment in August 2019, and a redrafted version was released in December.
Former High Court Justice believes Religious Discrimination Bill should not proceed – new campaign launched
Former Justice of the High Court, The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG believes that the Religious Discrimination Bill should not proceed as the new #DontDivideUs campaign is launched against the government’s proposed laws today.
Michael Kirby Op-ed
Over the summer, the federal government released an amended draft of its proposed Religious Discrimination Bill, designed to satisfy the bill’s many...
Unions and employers join forces to oppose religious freedom bill
Unions and employers have joined forces to fight the Morrison government’s controversial religious freedom bill, warning it will damage workplace harmony and pit employees from different backgrounds against each other at work.
Faith-based groups reject latest religious discrimination bill
Community service providers, including Jewish and Christian groups, have united to reject draft religious discrimination legislation over fears it could be harmful and favour religious expression over other rights.
Religious discrimination bill backfires on Christians
Conservative Christians are some of the biggest supporters of Scott Morrison’s religious discrimination bill. But they should be careful what they wish for. It won’t just be gay people, women and people with disabilities who lose out under the proposed law. Christians will be among the biggest losers.
Religious discrimination bill could put business in ‘perilous’ and ‘very expensive’ position: ACCI
Proposed religious discrimination laws could put businesses in a “perilous” and “very expensive” position as they try to balance the rights of religious and non-religious employees.
About the Campaign
This campaign is supported by a coalition of freethought organisations: the Rationalist Society of Australia, the Atheist Foundation of Australia, the NSW Rationalist Association, Humanists Victoria, Sydney Atheists, the Council of Australian Humanist Societies, the National Secular Lobby, the Australian Skeptics, the Australian Skeptics (Vic. branch), the Queensland Parents for Secular State Schools, Go Gentle Australia and The Church of Flying Spaghetti Monster Australia.
We believe in genuine secularism – separation between church and state. Public policy should be based on evidence and reason.
Want to help?
Everyone will be affected by the government’s proposed Religious Discrimination Bill. But you can help. Every dollar you contribute will be put toward the campaign to stop the Morrison government’s attempts to divide Australia.
Donate now, and together we’ll get a message to Canberra. #DontDivideUs.