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ABSTRACT
Discrimination laws have long contained exceptions for otherwise unlawful discriminatory conduct. An increasing site of tension has been the exceptions granted to religious schools. These schools maintain that they should be able to adopt an approach to education which reflects the faith-based ethos of the school community. However, there are concerns that some faith-based approaches can cause harm to, and exclude, LGBTIQ+ staff and students. An approach that has been under active consideration in Australia is to allow some discrimination by religious schools so long as they give public notice of their policy of doing so. This ‘notice provision’ exists in several state and territory discrimination laws, and has been considered in recent law reform inquiries across the country.
In this paper, we challenge the underlying idea that prior notice justifies discriminatory conduct. We argue that such an approach sits uncomfortably with the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of discrimination law, and that transparency is an insufficient reason to permit discrimination. Notice provisions appear to evade, rather than answer, the question of how to balance competing human rights to religious freedom and equality. As such, we argue that discrimination by religious schools cannot be justified on the basis of notice.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1 Evans and Gaze (Citation2010).
2 See, eg, McCrudden (Citation2020).
3 See, eg, Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) ss 37, 38.
4 While religious universities, colleges and other educational institutions are included within the remit of these exceptions, almost all policy and legal controversy has centred on religious schools.
5 Donnelly (Citation2023); Elphick (Citation2023).
6 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), pp. 31–2; Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), pp. 178–9.
7 Evans and Ujavi (Citation2009), p. 35.
8 Discrimination Amendment Act 2023 (ACT) s 9, which substitutes Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) s 32 in April 2024.
9 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1996, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976) arts 18, 26.
10 Thornton (Citation1991), pp. 453–4.
11 See, eg, Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) s 24(1)(a).
12 Smith (Citation2008), p. 8; see, eg, Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) s 30(2)(b).
13 Blackham (Citation2018), p. 1088.
14 Smith (Citation2008), p. 8; Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (NSW) ss 25(3)(b), 38C(3)(b), 40(3)(b), 49D(3)(b), 49V(3)(b), 49ZH(3)(b).
15 Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) s 34(3); Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) s 51A; Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) ss 46(3), (4).
16 Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) s 34(3).
17 Equal Opportunity Act 1984 (SA) s 34(3).
18 Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) s 51A.
19 Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) ss 46(3), (4).
20 Equal Opportunity (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2009 (SA).
21 Equal Opportunity (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2009 (SA).
22 South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 14 July 2009, pp. 3474–5.
23 South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 14 July 2009, pp. 3474–5.
24 Statutes Amendment (Gender Identity and Equity) Act 2016 (SA).
25 South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 14 July 2009, pp. 3474–5.
26 South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 14 July 2009, pp. 3474–5.
27 Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) s 51A; Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) ss 46(3), (4).
28 Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 (Tas) s 51A.
29 Anti-Discrimination Amendment Act 2015 (Tas).
30 Tasmania, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 28 April 2015, p. 26 (Premier Rockliff).
31 Tasmania, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 28 April 2015, p. 26 (Premier Rockliff). The previous exemption approach required religious schools to, one-by-one, seek individual exemptions to be able to discriminate on the basis of religious belief in the admission of students – rather than applying a generalised legislative test, as under the new approach.
32 Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) ss 46(3), (4).
33 Discrimination Amendment Act 2018 (ACT).
34 Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 1 November 2018, pp. 4612–4 (Chief Minister Barr), 4614–6 (Attorney-General Rattenbury).
35 Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 27 November 2018, p. 4881 (Opposition Leader Coe).
36 Discrimination Amendment Act 2023 (ACT) s 9.
37 Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) s 32(1)(d).
38 Elphick (Citation2017), pp. 158–161; Moulds (Citation2020).
39 Discrimination Amendment Act 2023 (ACT) s 9, which will be incorporated into the Discrimination Act 1991 (ACT) ss 32(1)(d), (e) in April 2024.
40 Discrimination Amendment Act 2023 (ACT) s 2.
41 Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 30 November 2022, p. 4020 (Assistant Minister Cheyne).
42 Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory (Citation2023), pp. 8–10.
43 Explanatory Statement and Human Rights Compatibility Statement to the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT), p. 24.
44 Explanatory Statement and Human Rights Compatibility Statement to the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT), p. 24.
45 Explanatory Statement and Human Rights Compatibility Statement to the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT), pp. 24–25.
46 Explanatory Statement and Human Rights Compatibility Statement to the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT), p. 24.
47 Explanatory Statement and Human Rights Compatibility Statement to the Discrimination Amendment Bill 2022 (ACT), p. 10 (emphasis added).
48 Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 23 March 2023, p. 622 (Chief Minister Barr) (emphasis added).
49 Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 23 March 2023, p. 623 (Chief Minister Barr).
50 Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department (Citation2018) (‘Ruddock Report’), p. 2.
51 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 2.
52 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 2.
53 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 2.
54 Elphick, Maguire and Hilkemeijer (Citation2018).
55 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 57.
56 Ruddock Report (2018).
57 Ruddock Report (2018), pp. 36–7.
58 Ruddock Report (2018), pp. 36–7.
59 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 63 (emphasis added).
60 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 62.
61 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 63.
62 Ruddock Report (2018), p. 63.
63 Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 (Cth).
64 Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 (Cth) cl 7; see further Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group (Citation2020), pp. 21–23.
65 Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 (Cth) cl 7(6).
66 Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 (Cth) cl 9(3), 40(2)(d), 40(5)(c).
67 Religious Discrimination Bill 2022 (Cth) cl 11.
68 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Citation2022), p. 119 (emphasis added).
69 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Citation2022), pp. 119–20.
70 Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (Citation2022), p. 109.
71 Evans (Citation2022).
72 The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP (Citation2022).
73 Australian Law Reform Commission (Citation2022).
74 Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) s 38; see further Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group (Citation2023), pp. 3, 6–7.
75 Australian Law Reform Commission (Citation2023a), pp. 47, 49.
76 Australian Law Reform Commission (Citation2023b).
77 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), pp. 183–4; Queensland Human Rights Commission (Citation2022), p. 380.
78 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), p. 183.
79 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), p. 184.
80 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), p. 184; Queensland Human Rights Commission (Citation2022), pp. 380–4.
81 Allen, Blackham and Thornton (Citation2021), p.7.
82 Allen and Blackham (Citation2019).
83 Queensland Human Rights Commission (Citation2023).
84 Allen and Blackham (Citation2019), p. 389.
85 Allen and Blackham (Citation2019), p. 412.
86 Hopkins (Citation2021), p. 44.
87 Hunyor (Citation2003), p. 537.
88 Blackham (Citation2021), p. 100.
89 Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth) s 13.
90 Workplace Gender Equality Amendment (Closing the Gender Pay Gap) Act 2023 (Cth).
91 Blackham (Citation2021).
92 Barker (Citation2019).
93 Barker (Citation2019), p. 193.
94 Barker (Citation2019), p. 193.
95 Barker (Citation2019), p. 195.
96 Barker (Citation2019), p. 195.
97 Barker (Citation2019), p. 195.
98 Sunstein (Citation1991), p. 22.
99 Sunstein (Citation1991), p. 22.
100 Sunstein (Citation1991), p. 25.
101 Sunstein (Citation1991), p. 37.
102 See further Loury (Citation1998).
103 See further Eisenberg (Citation2011).
104 Hellman (Citation2008), p. 35.
105 Hellman (Citation2008), pp. 35–7.
106 Hellman (Citation2008), pp. 35–7.
107 Hellman (Citation2008), pp. 35–7.
108 Hellman (Citation2008), p. 7.
109 Hellman (Citation2008), pp. 35–6.
110 Hellman (Citation2008), p. 38.
111 Moreau (Citation2020), p. 42; Fredman (Citation2022), pp. 34–5; Solanke (Citation2017), p. 3.
112 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (Citation2022), p. 184.
113 Queensland Human Rights Commission (Citation2022), pp. 382–3.
114 See generally Chapman (Citation1996).
115 Smith, Schleiger and Elphick (Citation2019), p. 230.
116 See, eg, Baines (Citation2015).
117 South Australia, Parliamentary Debates, House of Assembly, 14 July 2009; Australian Capital Territory, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 23 March 2023, p. 623 (Chief Minister Barr).
118 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), p. 36.
119 Evans (Citation2012), pp. 167–8.
120 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 19 December 1996, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 23 March 1976).
121 Poulos (Citation2018), p. 122.
122 Poulos (Citation2018), p. 122.
123 Barker (Citation2020), pp. 159–60.
124 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), p. 36.
125 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), pp. 32–4.
126 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), p. 33.
127 Fredman (Citation2021), p. 104.
128 Harrison and Parkinson (Citation2014), pp. 438–9.
129 McCrudden (Citation2011), p. 217; cf Khaitan and Norton (Citation2019).
130 McCrudden (Citation2011), p. 217.
131 Evans and Gaze (Citation2010), p. 408.
132 Evans and Ujvari (Citation2009), pp. 35–7.
133 Evans and Gaze (Citation2010), pp. 413–4.
134 Deagon (Citation2019), p. 47.
135 Walsh (Citation2014), p. 135.
136 Walsh (Citation2014), p. 131.
137 Commonwealth Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights (Citation2022), pp. 114–5.
138 Commonwealth Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights (Citation2022), pp. 114–5.
139 Fredman (Citation2020).
140 Nejaime and Siegel (Citation2014).
141 McColgan (Citation2009).
142 Maddox (Citation2014), pp. 104–5.
143 Sunstein (Citation1991), p. 29.
144 Hellman (Citation2008); Moreau (Citation2020).
145 Fredman (Citation2020), p. 314.
146 Fredman (Citation2020), p. 306.
147 Fredman (Citation2020), pp. 308–9.
148 Fredman (Citation2020), p. 315.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Alice Taylor
Alice Taylor is an Assistant Professor in the Bond University Faulty of Law and a Member of the Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group. She researches the underpinning rationales for discrimination law and its place within public and private law in a comparative context.
Liam Elphick
Liam Elphick is a Lecturer at the Monash University Faculty of Law and a Member of the Australian Discrimination Law Experts Group. His research expertise is in LGBTIQ+ discrimination law and its intersection with religious freedom, with a particular focus on law reform.