Comments on the Terms of Reference for the Australian Law Reform Commission Review of Religious Exceptions

Comments on the Terms of Reference for the Australian Law Reform Commission Review of Religious Exceptions

PIAC provided a short submission in response to the ALRC’s call for comments on the Terms of Reference for its review of religious exceptions under Commonwealth, state and territory anti-discrimination law.

PIAC made three main points:

• National consistency should not override best practice approaches (and specifically the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act 1998)
• Religious exceptions should not be replaced by positive rights to discriminate, and
• There is limited evidence of discrimination against people on the basis of expressing ‘traditional’ views about marriage, meaning the ALRC should instead focus on the operation of religious exceptions allowing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.