Queensland citizens draws to the attention of the House that we do not approve of the changes proposed to Section 25 of the Anti- Discrimination Act 1991 in Recommendation 39 of the “Building belonging” report released by the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

We point out some significant flaws in this recommendation and its preceding discussion:

1. Section 25(1) of the Act does not, in fact, “indicate that discrimination on the basis of religion will always be a ‘genuine occupational requirement’ at a religious school” (as indicated by the use of the word ‘may’ in this section).

2. On the other hand, the example given in Recommendation 39.4 concerning a science teacher in a religious school, ignores the fact that most teachers in religious schools have a form / roll class in which they are explicitly required to regularly bring short messages concerning religious / moral topics.

3. It is a dangerously authoritarian approach to dismiss the idea of allowing religious schools to require employees to adhere to a publicly available statement of beliefs and practices, on the basis that issuing such statements is “contrary to a primary aim of discrimination law”. Such an encroachment upon freedom of expression has wider ramifications that ought not to be tolerated in a free society.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the government to resolve, and publicly state their resolution, to reject Recommendation 39 of the “Building belonging” report in its current form.