New Federal Bill Threatens Protections for Faith-Based Schools

Independent MP Allegra Spender has introduced a bill into Federal Parliament that would significantly weaken existing religious freedom protections for faith-based schools.

The Sex Discrimination and Fair Work Amendment (Equality in Treatment in Religious Schools) Bill 2026 seeks to prevent discrimination against students and staff on grounds including sexuality, gender identity and marital status. However, it also proposes sweeping changes to the protections that allow religious schools to operate in accordance with their faith.

What would the bill do?

The bill would remove existing protections under the Sex Discrimination Act and Fair Work Act that allow religious schools to make employment decisions consistent with their religious beliefs.

Under the proposed changes:

• Religious schools would have a much narrower right to employ staff who share their faith. Religious preference in hiring would be protected only where the person’s duties involve participation in religious teaching or practice.
• Schools would lose important protections for maintaining their religious ethos. Even where a staff member was employed because of their faith, the bill would remove existing religious exceptions that can protect employment decisions when a staff member’s conduct conflicts with the school’s beliefs.
• Religious codes of conduct would face new restrictions. The bill would limit the operation of employment agreements requiring staff to uphold religious standards in their personal beliefs or private lives.
• Protections would also be removed in relation to students, volunteers and contract workers, limiting the ability of religious schools to make decisions based on their religious convictions.

These changes raise serious concerns about the ability of Christian schools and other faith-based educational institutions to maintain their distinctive religious character.

What has Labor promised?

Before the 2025 federal election, the Albanese Government made significant commitments to faith leaders about protecting religious freedom.

Labor explicitly promised:

“Legal protections for people of faith will not go backwards under Labor.”

Labor also committed to protecting teachers against discrimination while maintaining the right of religious schools to preference people who share their faith when selecting staff. It said its proposed reforms would extend protections without removing or overriding existing protections.

Importantly, Labor also committed to pursuing any such reforms on a bipartisan basis with the Coalition. Labor stated that the reforms “should be progressed on a bipartisan basis” to ensure they were enduring, unifying and fit for purpose.

Labor specifically rejected calls from the Greens and some crossbenchers to proceed without Coalition support, stating that lasting reform required support from across Parliament.

These commitments are difficult to reconcile with the changes proposed in Spender’s bill.

Read Labor’s full commitments on religious freedom.

Where does the Government stand?

We have received reassurances from the offices of the Prime Minister, Attorney-General and Minister for Education, as well as other senior Labor MPs, that these commitments still stand.

Spender’s bill is a private member’s bill, not Government legislation. Its introduction does not mean that the Government has changed its position.

Freedom for Faith is continuing to engage directly with the Government to ensure that it honours these commitments and continues to protect the freedom of faith-based schools to operate in accordance with their beliefs.

Candidate forums have a real impact

These commitments demonstrate the effectiveness of churches engaging directly with their political representatives.

During the 2025 federal election, churches across Australia hosted Meet Your Candidates forums, giving Christians the opportunity to raise religious freedom concerns directly with candidates from across the political spectrum.

The commitments secured during that election are an important result of that engagement. They provide a clear basis for holding political leaders accountable for the promises they have made.

This is why Freedom for Faith is continuing to organise candidate forums.

We are currently working with churches across Victoria ahead of the November 2026 state election, and preparing for the NSW election in 2027.

These forums give local Christians the opportunity to speak directly with candidates, raise the issues that matter to their communities, and seek clear public commitments.

Find out more about the forums, and how your church can be involved, at meetyourcandidates.org.au.