Tasmanian faith-based organisations have expressed approval for proposed federal legislation which will allow them to only employ workers aligned with their faith.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner believes this clause in the Religious Discrimination Bill is too broad and could permit discrimination.
The federal government has so far put two drafts of the bill out for consultation.
Submissions to the second draft will close this month.
Christian Education National in Tasmania said schools had the right to only employ workers aligned with a particular faith.
"We believe it is fundamental to who we are as schools that we maintain the right to employ only staff who hold to the beliefs and teachings outlined in the constitutions and values on which those schools were founded," it said.
The Anglican Diocese of Tasmania expressed concerns on how the clause to permit religious bodies from operating in accordance with their faith would interact with the Tasmanian Anti-Discrimination Act.
It said a church may choose only to employ practising Christians, and while this would not be discriminatory under the bill, it would be under state laws.
In other news:
The diocese said the same could be said for a church which refused to solemnise the marriage of marriage of a divorced person.
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sarah Bolt said the clause contained within the bill was too broad.
"This broad approach would capture a wide range of conduct, so long as it had some connection with religious belief," she said.
"The broad definition of religious body could have the consequence of permitting discrimination in a wide range of areas, including schools, charities, hospitals and aged care homes."
Equality Tasmania president Rodney Croome said the bill would allow religious schools to discriminate on the provision of marriage-related facilities.
"The effect will be to allow publicly-funded faith-based organisations to deny commercially available facilities to same-sex couples," he said.