A new group is concerned that changes to discrimination laws will have "a deleterious effect upon freedom of speech and freedom of association".
Freedom 4 Faith is a single-issue group established to represent Christian churches and other faith based organisations on religious freedom in Australia.
The group presented a submission to the senate committee hearings on the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill 2012. The Anglican Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth, was one of those presenting the groups views to Senators in Sydney.
The Bishop said that among the misgivings about the bill was the group's fear that it is "an overreach of federal law into public, semi-private and casual life—sporting life and other things; that part of life which is neither fully intimately private, nor public in the strong sense of the word, in which a great deal of society has developed. We also believe it is in danger of imposing a significant burden upon religious and not-for-profit organisations in nuisance claims, defending claims and general regulatory burden at a time of increasing remarkable regulatory burdens happening at the moment".
The draft legislation is intended to consolidate and simplify current laws, but Bishop Forsyth told the committee "It is called the Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination Bill. It is our belief that it is only the second part that is getting the main run—anti-discrimination—and that if it is going to be true to its name it needs a more adequate balancing of other human rights with proper anti-discrimination rights, like freedom of speech, cultural association and so forth".
He said the changes proposed by Freedom 4 Faith are aimed at redressing the imbalance.
"Notwithstanding the positive elements of the bill and our support of the general process and the goals of the bill, we do not think it as yet strikes the appropriate balance between different human rights, and therefore may reduce social cohesion and unnecessarily seek to regulate areas of voluntary association and activity" the Bishop said.
The senators engaged in a question and answer with Bishop Forsyth and Freedom 4 Faith Executive Officer Mrs Chelsea Pietsch which covered anti-discrimination exemptions in schools, aged care and hospitals.
Bishop Forsyth also told the committee that the using language saying churches were 'exempt' from laws such as anti-discrimination, was unhelpful.
"We are not claiming the right to be exempt from the anti-discrimination law. That is completely misunderstanding what we are saying. We believe a law should account for other rights, like the ICCPR, article 18—the right to freedom of religion, to practice it and to hold it."
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