Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher has threatened to close Catholic schools in protest over proposed changes to federal anti-discrimination laws that would prevent LGBTI+ teachers from being fired and students from being expelled.
The threat to close schools was branded “alarmist” by the Independent Education Union of Australia on Tuesday.
Most employers cannot lawfully discriminate due to an employee’s sex, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy or accessing fertility treatments.
But faith-based schools have special exemptions allowing them to fire LGBTI+ staff and expel students whose sexual orientation or gender identities do not align with Christian values. Women who have children out of wedlock or use contraception or IVF services can also be shown the exit.
The federal Labor government has been attempting to amend the laws to remove the ability of religious organisations to discriminate. In the lead-up to the 2022 federal election, the Albanese government committed to reforming the laws so that religious educational institutions:
- could no longer discriminate against students and staff based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy, and also for staff, based on their sex;
- could continue to preference, in good faith, persons of the same religion when selecting staff.
The government has yet to introduce legislation to parliament that tackles the reform after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese initially insisted on bipartisan support from the Coalition to pass the bill.
However, this stance seemed to wane when Albanese hinted the government would be willing to reach an agreement with the Greens. “If the Greens are willing to support the rights of people to practice their faith, then that would be a way forward,” Albanese told Labor colleagues earlier this year.
In November 2022, the Australian Law Reform Commission – headed by NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman as Commissioner – was tasked with recommending a pathway for implementing the government’s commitment. It proposed a number of recommendations for proceeding with the reform.
Christian Schools Australia has argued that if the laws are amended, they would prevent Christian schools from employing only Christian teachers and staff who share and can teach the same values and beliefs of the school.
While new protections would be inserted into a separate Religious Discrimination Act, opponents to the bill say they are insufficient.
Bishop threatens to close schools
Speaking on Friday to the Sydney Catholic Business Network, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said that if the draft legislation became law then there would be a point where the church may have to consider its future in education.
“So there’s an example of, I think, a crunch point that would force us to consider withdrawal from a ministry,” Fisher said.
“It is difficult to view all these recent proposals as anything but hostile to religious freedom,” Fisher said.
Fisher told The Weekend Australian newspaper on Friday that school closures would need to be seen as an “ultimate” or “last-resort” option if Catholic educators lost their protections on staff hiring decisions.
The Weekend Australian also reported that Fisher suggested Catholic hospitals could be forced to consider similar action if they were required to perform abortions or other procedures that were “deeply troubling ethically”.
Union blasts bishop’s threat
The Independent Education Union of Australia NSW/ACT branch secretary Carol Matthews branded the archbishop’s comments alarmist and called on the Catholic church to “participate in real and sensible negotiations about proposed changes to federal anti-discrimination laws”.
“Teachers and support staff in Catholic schools deserve the same employment protections as the rest of the community,” Matthews said.
The union represents more than 32,000 teachers and professional, administrative, operational and support staff in non-government schools, including Catholic schools, throughout NSW and the ACT.
“Archbishop Anthony Fisher would like to hold onto these unjust exemptions, and he has threatened to close Catholic schools if employees gain stronger employment protections,” Matthews said.
“The Archbishop’s stance is at odds with the federal government’s longstanding election commitment to protect both students and staff from discrimination.
“Catholic diocesan schools receive more than 80 per cent of their income from government funding.
“No one is trying to stop Catholic schools from being Catholic or teaching the Catholic faith. But once employed, teachers and other school staff should not be at risk of losing their jobs because they divorce, remarry, or use contraception or IVF services.”
Matthews said members of the Independent Education Union of Australia have campaigned for years for “commonsense employment protections”.
“Teachers, school leaders, and school support staff have shared heartbreaking stories with the union of the discrimination they’ve endured at work due to their sexual orientation, for accessing fertility treatments, for a change to their relationship status or because of pregnancy,” Matthews said.
“Such treatment would be unlawful in every other industry. It is unwelcome in today’s workplace.
“Schools and communities of faith can still thrive without the need to discriminate.”
Gay Sydney News editor