The Australian Christian Lobby is calling on the Labor Party to clarify their policy on religious freedom for faith-based schools.
According to the ALP’s legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus, a Shorten government would remove important legal protections for religious schools.
“This is out of step with what Tanya Plibersek said last week when she seemed to show a willingness to support religious schools’ right to teach their values, and employ staff that faithfully represent those values,” commented Mr Iles.
“Religious freedom for schools remains a critical issue for millions of Australians, and so far, it has been sidelined from the election campaign.”
“Labor can’t be all things to all people on this issue. They must clarify their position.”
“We cannot have faith-based schools, tertiary institutions and potentially even churches themselves being legally challenged for teaching their faith or hiring staff who share their ethos.”
“The ACL has already seen litigation against schools and other bodies through our human rights law clinic, so we know the concern about litigation is not imaginary.”
The ACL will soon be launching a campaign focusing on five main pillars of democratic freedom including; freedom of speech, association, conscience, freedom from discrimination and freedom for parental choice.
