ICCPR

neilfoster

Queensland – new proposed discrimination law

The Queensland government has released a draft of a proposed new discrimination law for public comment. The proposed Anti-Discrimination Bill 2024 will make some radical changes to Queensland law, and of interest here is that it will seriously impact religious freedom in that State. One of the ways that religious freedom is protected in Australia is through the inclusion in discrimination laws of “balancing clauses” (provisions that balance the right not to be discriminated against, with the important right of religious freedom). But the new Bill will dramatically narrow those clauses.

I am pleased to present a guest blog post commenting on some religious freedom impacts of the draft Bill, from Dr Alex Deagon, an Associate Professor in the School of Law at QUT, and an internationally recognised researcher in religious freedom.

Continue reading

neilfoster

Law and Religion in the Commonwealth- paperback version

I previously posted about the publication of an edited collection of papers on Law and Religion issues around the Commonwealth, of which I am one of the editors. The book was available in hardcover and in an ebook version, but is now about to be released as a paperback in December. (The only difference is the reduced price!)

The publication date in Australia and New Zealand is 28 December 2023 and the webpage can be found here: https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/law-and-religion-in-the-commonwealth-9781509950188/. 

Readers of this blog can use the discount code GLR AQ7 , which entitles you to a 20% discount off a purchase of the book made on the Bloomsbury website. 

Just as a reminder:

Each chapter focuses on a specific case from a Commonwealth jurisdiction, examining the history and impact of the case, both within the originating jurisdiction and its wider global context.  

The book contains chapters from leading and emerging scholars from across the Commonwealth, including from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Nigeria. 

The cases are divided into four sections covering:
– Foundational Questions in Law and Religion
– Freedom of Religion around the Commonwealth
– Religion and state relations around the Commonwealth
– Rights, Relationships and Religion around the Commonwealth.

Like religion itself, the case law covers a wide spectrum of life. This diversity is reflected in the cases covered in this book, which include: 
– Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v Home Minister on the use of the Muslim name for God by non-Muslims in Malaysia
– The Church of the New Faith v Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax (Vic) which determined the meaning of religion in Australia 
– Eweida v UK which clarified the application of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights 
– R v Big M Drug Mart on the individual protections of religious freedom under the Canadian Charter of Rights.  

The book examines how legal disputes involving religion are among the most contested in the courts and shows that in these cases, passions run high and the outcomes can have significant consequences for all involved.

My chapter is an analysis of the key Australian case, Christian Youth Camps Limited v Cobaw Community Health Services Limited and is sub-titled “Balancing Discrimination Rights with Religious Freedom of Organisations”.

neilfoster

Volume 2 of Australian Journal of Law and Religion available

The second issue of the Australian Journal of Law and Religion is now available online here. There are a number of important issues covered. The Table of Contents gives an idea:

 Editorial i 

Articles 

May Australian States Impose Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Obligations on Religious Schools? A Rejoinder to Foster Nicholas Butler 1 

Reconciling Freedom and Equality for Peaceful Coexistence: On the Need to Reframe the Religious Exemptions in the Sex Discrimination Act Alex Deagon 20 

The Position of Religious Schools Under International Human Rights Law Mark Fowler 36 

Legislating Gender Prejudice: Religion and the Overturning of Roe v Wade Rena MacLeod 56 

Conversion Practices Legislation in Victoria – A Potential Crisis for Church Authority? Rhett Martin 70 

Statements of Belief as Political Communication Timothy Nugent 81 

Book Reviews 

Law and Religion in the Commonwealth: The Evolution of Case Law edited by Renae Barker, Paul T. Babie, and Neil Foster Barry W. Bussey 90 

The Transgender Issue: An Argument for Justice by Shon Faye Jeremy Patrick 93 

Special Topic Forum: Religious Freedom, Sexuality, and Gender Identity 

Cherry Picking Human Rights Nicholas Aroney 95 

What Does Gender Identity Mean in the Sex Discrimination Act 1984? Patrick Byrne 101 

The Politics of Indonesia’s New Criminal Code Robert W. Hefner 104 

Of course each reader will have their own specific areas of interest. I was obviously very interested to see that one of the articles is a rejoinder to an article I had published in volume 1, dealing with the impact of differing discrimination laws applying to faith based schools (and other institutions) in Commonwealth and State laws (see Butler, from p 1.) Readers will have to make up their own minds as to whether Mr Butler’s critique of my position is valid or not. I was also pleased to see an encouraging review of the edited volume Law and Religion in the Commonwealth , of which I was a co-editor (see Bussey, from p 90).

I look forward to reading the other articles in due course! I very much commend the editors for their decision to make all the articles freely available for download.

neilfoster

Chart a better course? Guest Post on an Australian Human Rights Charter- part 2

Recently the Australian Human Rights Commission has issued a Position Paper entitled A Human Rights Act for Australia . In a previous guest post, Dr Paul Taylor provided some preliminary comments on the proposals. I am pleased to have an opportunity to provide his more recent comments.

As noted previously, Dr Taylor is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the T.C. Beirne School of Law, a Fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, The University of Notre Dame Australia. His principal academic interests are international human rights law and conflict of laws (private international law). He has held Visiting Fellowships at Wolfson College, Cambridge and at the Centre for International and Public Law, College of Law, Australian National University. He is the author of A Commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: The UN Human Rights’ Committee’s Monitoring of ICCPR Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2020); and Freedom of Religion: UN and European Human Rights Law and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Dr Taylor has provided the following comments as a guest blogger. The comments are of course written in a personal capacity, and do not reflect any views of any institution to which he is or has been affiliated.

Continue reading

neilfoster

A Human Rights Charter for Australia? A Guest Blog Post.

Recently the Australian Human Rights Commission has issued a Position Paper entitled A Human Rights Act for Australia . I have often commented here on the gaps in protection for religious freedom under Australian federal law, and one suggestion that has sometimes been made is that Australia should implement internationally recognised rights such as those contained in art 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. But is doing this by way of a federal Human Rights Charter the right way to go?

I asked one of Australia’s leading commentators on international human rights issues, Dr Paul Taylor, to offer some preliminary comments on the proposals that have been put forward. Dr Taylor is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the T.C. Beirne School of Law, a Fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Law, The University of Notre Dame Australia. His principal academic interests are international human rights law and conflict of laws (private international law). He has held Visiting Fellowships at Wolfson College, Cambridge and at the Centre for International and Public Law, College of Law, Australian National University. He is the author of A Commentary on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: The UN Human Rights’ Committee’s Monitoring of ICCPR Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2020); and Freedom of Religion: UN and European Human Rights Law and Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

Dr Taylor has provided the following comments as a guest blogger. The comments are of course written in a personal capacity, and do not reflect any views of any institution to which he is or has been affiliated.

Continue reading

neilfoster

Removing fences: the ALRC Consultation Paper on Religious Educational Institutions and Discrimination Laws

The Australian Law Reform Commission has now released a Consultation Paper for its current reference on “Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws”. The paper, while formally acknowledging the importance of religious freedom and parental rights, will be a serious disappointment to those involved in religious schools and colleges. It effectively recommends the removal of protections enjoyed by religious educational institutions which have been designed to safeguard the ability of these organisations to operate in accordance with their religious beliefs. The “fences” protecting these bodies from being forced to conform to majority views on sexual behaviour and identity (and hence losing their distinctiveness as religious bodies) are to be knocked down, the ALRC says. But the paper offers no convincing reasons for this wholesale demolition of a structure which has served the diversity and plurality of the Australian community for many years. Rather than supporting “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion”, the paper’s recommendations would require a compulsory uniformity which would undermine the reasons for the existence of faith-based educational institutions.

Continue reading

neilfoster

New book: Law and Religion in the Commonwealth

I am pleased to announce that a new book of which I am one of the editors will be published on 30 June. The book is Law and Religion in the Commonwealth: The Evolution of Case Law (Hart/Bloomsbury, 2022) and my esteemed co-editors are Dr Renae Barker (UWA) and Professor Paul Babie (Adelaide). The book is a collection of studies of law and religion issues from around the Commonwealth of Nations, from established scholars and also from some who are just starting out.

From the publisher’s description:

Each chapter focuses on a specific case from a Commonwealth jurisdiction, examining the history and impact of the case, both within the originating jurisdiction and its wider global context.  

The book contains chapters from leading and emerging scholars from across the Commonwealth, including from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Malaysia, India and Nigeria. 

The cases are divided into four sections covering:
– Foundational Questions in Law and Religion
– Freedom of Religion around the Commonwealth
– Religion and state relations around the Commonwealth
– Rights, Relationships and Religion around the Commonwealth.

Like religion itself, the case law covers a wide spectrum of life. This diversity is reflected in the cases covered in this book, which include: 
– Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v Home Minister on the use of the Muslim name for God by non-Muslims in Malaysia
– The Church of the New Faith v Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax (Vic) which determined the meaning of religion in Australia 
– Eweida v UK which clarified the application of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights 
– R v Big M Drug Mart on the individual protections of religious freedom under the Canadian Charter of Rights.  

The book examines how legal disputes involving religion are among the most contested in the courts and shows that in these cases, passions run high and the outcomes can have significant consequences for all involved.

My chapter is an analysis of the key Australian case, Christian Youth Camps Limited v Cobaw Community Health Services Limited and is sub-titled “Balancing Discrimination Rights with Religious Freedom of Organisations”. The book can be pre-ordered here, and will be available from June 30.

More information about the book, and a sample of the first chapter, can be seen here.

neilfoster

NSW Parliamentary report supports religious discrimination law

The recently released NSW Parliamentary Report of the Joint Select Committee on the Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020 (handed down on 31 March 2021) has recommended that the NSW government introduce amendments to make it unlawful in NSW to discriminate on irrelevant grounds relating to religious belief or activity. The proposals supported by the Committee are a good idea and I think their recommendations (with a couple of minor reservations noted below) should be implemented.

Continue reading

neilfoster

A Religious Discrimination Bill in NSW

The NSW Parliament is currently considering a Private Member’s Bill which would make religious discrimination unlawful. The Anti-Discrimination Amendment (Religious Freedoms and Equality) Bill 2020, introduced by the Hon Mark Latham, is being considered at hearings before a Joint Select Committee. I have previously linked, here, to a submission on the Bill provided by Freedom for Faith. The Bill has been subject to serious criticism in an article on The Conversation and in the Sydney Morning Herald. Here I want to provide some response to those critiques, and to suggest that the Bill, while not perfect, is worth supporting and is a good idea.

Continue reading

neilfoster

Further reflections on the Israel Folau affair

In a previous post I commented on the events surrounding celebrity rugby player Israel Folau’s posting on social media of a meme stating that various groups of sinners, including “homosexuals”, were destined for hell unless they repented and put their trust in Jesus Christ. He was immediately threatened with dismissal by his employer, Rugby Australia (“RA”), a threat subsequently implemented through an internal tribunal finding that he was guilty of a high level breach of the RA “code of conduct”.

It seems an appropriate point to comment on recent developments and to clarify what it seems Mr Folau’s legal options are.

Continue reading