The Education Legislation Amendment (Parental Rights) Bill 2020 was introduced last year by Mark Latham MLC. It seeks to reassert the rights and role of parents in the moral, ethical, political and social developments of their children.
The directives in the bill are entirely reasonable, including:
- Teaching in schools must be non-ideological
- Parents can withdraw their children from teaching that is inconsistent with their core values
- Schools must reveal on their website what they are teaching
- Schools cannot withhold gender-related information from parents about their child
- Students must use facilities according to their biological sex (unless they’ve had a medical gender transition)
- School counsellors cannot discuss gender issues without parental consent
For more information, read the bill and ACL’s submission to the Legislative Council Committee.
The teaching of moral and ethical values has always started at home and should be primarily carried out by parents, or in consultation with parents.
The Hon. Sarah Mitchell, Minister of Education, rightly said,
“Instilling values and encouraging positions on social and political issues is not the job of schools. It is the job of parents.”
A Legislative Council Committee report in 2021 confirmed there is strong community support for this bill. Now, with the bill being tabled again, it is important to demonstrate to politicians that you want parental rights to be protected in law.
Please sign the petition below to call for the NSW Government to pass the Parental Rights Bill.
