Religious Freedom Bill – implications, and options for change
Event Information
Description
Australia's federal government released the draft of its Religious Freedom Bill on 29 August.
In theory, the bill aims to add the protected ground of “religious belief or activity” to existing federal discrimination protections for race, sex, disability and age. However, it can be perceived that the bill weakens existing protections for LGBTIQA+ people, women, people with disabilities, and those from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.
We invite you to join us to unpack the Religious Freedom Bill, and explore the implications unchallenged legislation could have for our marginalised communities.
12-1pm: Religious Freedom Bill seminar
QUT’s Peter Black will take us through the Religious Freedom Bill and gives an insight into the legal questions raised, implications, and opportunities for change.
1-2pm: Stay and workshop concerns relating to several themes within the legislation.
The workshop will offer several streams for participation including:
- developing arguments against the bill as a whole
- developing arguments against some specific elements of the bill which go further than other discrimination laws, e.g. employer conduct rule, and discrimination protections;
- sharing and collecting personal stories that could be used in submissions to the government by Queensland Aids Council, Equality Australia or other organisations;
- strategies for raising awareness and encouraging as many people as possible to meet with their MPs and Senators as well as providing a submission to the Government on the Exposure Draft.
We welcome you for either or both components of the event - please register accordingly. A light lunch will be served at approximately 12:50pm.
