Current Issues
Freedom for Faith is supporting churches across Australia in campaigns to protect religious freedom.
NSW: Conversion Therapy
Serious problems remain with government advice being given on how the NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act is being applied. This breaks the Premier’s promise that “an individual, of their own consent, seeking guidance through prayer will not be banned”.
VIC: Cults Inquiry
Freedom for Faith has given evidence to the Victorian Parliamentary inquiry into the recruitment methods and impacts of cults and organised fringe groups, seeking assurances that Christian and other religious groups will not be unfairly targeted.
NSW: Anti-Discrimination Review
The NSW Anti-Discrimination Act should be redrafted to provide positive rights for the free exercise of religious beliefs and activity, rather than protecting religious freedoms through mere exceptions. And amendments should not be delayed pending any progress by the Commonwealth in this area.
WA: Conversion Therapy
The WA Government has been running a consultation on “conversion therapy” legislation that has included many LGBTIQ activist groups and some Christian denominations, but has excluded many other denominations and faith groups.
Federal: Human Rights Act
It has been widely recognised for many years that Australia’s protection of human rights is incomplete and completely misses some areas of international agreements.
Federal: Religious Discrimination Bill
Australia has no Federal legislation to protect from people religious discrimination, or to protect the rights of people of faith to hold, express or live out their faith.
NT: Voluntary Assisted Dying
Freedom for Faith is preparing a second submission to the CLP Government to reinforce our initial submission which calls to protect individuals and institutions which have conscientious objections to Voluntary Assisted Dying.
Federal: Review into Philanthropy
In November 2023 the Productivity Commission released its draft report. Unfortunately, the report’s recommendations went far beyond the terms of reference, directly targeting religion.
Federal: Schools’ Rights
Since 2018, there have been attacks on the right of faith-based schools to hire staff who believe in and live out the faith of the school, and to engage in disciplinary action where staff or students do not live in accordance with that faith.
Previous Issues
Western Australian and Federal Elections
We are helping churches run “meet the candidate” forums for both the WA and Federal Elections. These forums are an opportunity for politicians to hear from Christians in their electorate and make commitments on issues we care about.
Federal: Misinformation / Disinformation Legislation
The Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024 was introduced in Parliament in September, and immediately referred to a Senate Committee.
VIC: Anti-Vilification Legislation
In September 2024, the Victorian Government released proposed changes to anti-vilification laws in Victoria. These changes would significantly broaden the reach of anti-vilification legislation and criminalise a wider range of acts.
NSW: Conversion Therapy
On March 22, 2024, the NSW Parliament passed the Conversion Practices Ban Act, a week after revealing the legislation. Despite a strong push from faith leaders and communities for improvements and clarifications, the legislation passed unamended…
QLD: Anti-Discrimination Bill
In February 2024, the Queensland Government introduced a complete rewrite of the Anti-Discrimination legislation. The Bill outlined a wide range of categories that it would be illegal to discriminate against, including sexuality, sexual activity and gender identity.
SA: Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill 2024
The South Australian Conversion Practices Prohibition Bill 2024 was introduced on 11 September 2024, and was passed on the 24 September after a truncated and rushed debate.
QLD: “Respect at Work” Bill
On September 10, 2024 the Queensland Parliament passed the “Respect at Work” bill, without fixing any of the problems we highlighted.
Federal: AHRC Costs Protection
This bill was created to correct a perceived imbalance in sexual harassment cases, which was identified by the Respect@Work Report. However, by extending the bill to cover all anti-discrimination cases before the Federal court, the bill opens up a pandora’s box of vindictive claims against faith-based organisations.
NSW: Alex Greenwich’s “Equality” Bill
On the evening of October 16th, a heavily changed version of Alex Greenwich’s “Equality” Bill was passed by the Legislative Assembly. The good news is that the vast majority of the Bill has been removed.
NT: Anti-discrimination Act
Amendments to the Anti-discrimination Act have gone some way towards improving protections but fall short of what faith communities had hoped.
Federal: Hate Crimes Amendments
The Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 does two main things. Firstly it expands the protected categories for the crime of “urging violence” to include a range of gender and sexuality categories, and it drops the threshold from “intending” violence to “reckless as to whether” violence is caused.
NSW: Abortion Legislation
The Greens’ abortion bill was gutted by the Legislative Council, leaving only one significant provision. The bill, which was introduced by Greens MLC Amanda Cohen, had siginificant implications for freedom of conscience and religion.
