A representative from the Seventh-day Adventist Church is among faith leaders who have expressed “deep concerns” to the Australian Government regarding the potential ramifications on religious education institutions of proposed legislation.
Forty faith leaders, including Pastor Kojo Akomeah, associate director for Public Affairs and Religious Liberty for the Adventist Church in Australia, signed an open letter addressing the government’s purported negotiations with The Greens party to implement recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) and pass a religious discrimination bill.
“While the government has had access to the ALRC report since last year, it has only just been made available to those most affected by its recommendations, particularly religious schools,” the letter states.
“Only a select few have seen the two draft pieces of legislation, meaning there has been no opportunity for people of faith to offer detailed feedback to the Government or the Opposition.
“We consider the reluctance of the Opposition to offer support to a legislative proposal for religious freedom which is—at this point—unseen and untested by faith communities to be reasonable and prudent, rather than an indication that a bipartisan approach endorsed by the faith communities is unachievable.”
In the letter, the faith leaders express reservations about any potential collaboration with The Greens, citing concerns over the party’s policies.
Meanwhile, Australian Union Conference general secretary Pastor Michael Worker was among a group of faith leaders who met with Senator Sarah Henderson and Senator Michaelia Cash last month to discuss government changes to the Sex Discrimination Act and the proposed religious discrimination bill.
“The Coalition’s guiding principle is that any legislative package brought forward by the Government must be one that takes people of faith, including faith-based schools, forward and not backwards,” wrote Ms Cash in a Facebook post following the meeting.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has since stated that religious freedom protections for faith groups “will not go backwards while I’m Prime Minister of Australia”, a commitment welcomed by faith leaders.
For further coverage on matters concerning religious freedom, see March on Religious Freedom.
