Freedom for Faith

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“Equality” Bill threatens religious freedom in NSW

Independent MP Mr A H Greenwich last year introduced a private member’s bill called the Equality Legislation Amendment (LGBTIQA+) Bill 2023 (“the Bill”) into the NSW Parliament. It is understood that time will be allowed for debate on the Bill on February 8, 2024. Freedom for Faith has an excellent overview of the many areas covered by the Bill and why the Bill should not proceed. Most private member’s Bills are not approved, but there is a danger that some MP’s might support some of the provisions of this Bill. In this post I will focus on some of the dangers to religious freedom in NSW if the Bill were passed. (There are so many that I may not cover them all in one post, and if I can I will try to pick up those I miss here in a later post.)

In this post I will focus on the proposed amendments to the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 (“ADA”).

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Freedom for Faith conference- Nov 6, 2023

I am pleased to share details of the Freedom for Faith annual conference- this should be a great day to consider religious freedom issues in Australia. (I am on the board of Freedom for Faith, and would encourage anyone interested in this area to support the organisation as it seeks to advocate for religious freedom for all!)

Freedom for Faith invites you to its annual conference, FREEDOM23, on November 6th at Village Church Annandale (Sydney) and live streamed.

FREEDOM23 will inform you about the current threats to religious freedom and their effects on families, churches and faith organisations, equip you to be ready for what lies ahead, and to advocate for religious freedom now, and encourage you in the knowledge that together, our voices can be heard.

The day will be particularly helpful for church and other religious leaders, those working in faith organisations, and anyone concerned about threats to religious freedom.

FREEDOM23 speakers include:

  • Max Jeganathan – Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX), former lawyer and policy advisor.
  • Mike Southon – Executive Director of Freedom for Faith
  • Dr Alex Deagon – Associate Professor of Law, QUT
  • Nick Jensen – Political liaison for the Australian Christian Higher Education Alliance (ACHEA)
  • Peter Fowler – CEO of The Anglican Schools Corporation

For in-person and streaming tickets: https://fff.org.au/f23.

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Religious Freedom Weekend June 11-13, 2021

Let me commend this event, the “Religious Freedom weekend” to be celebrated over June 11-13, 2021; details available at this website: https://www.religiousfreedomweekend.com.au . The weekend is being sponsored by Freedom for Faith, a legal think-tank supporting religious freedom in Australia which I am proud to be associated with. This is not a conference, but simply a weekend where we are encouraging believers all over Australia, and those who just support the important human right of religious freedom, to celebrate religious freedom and consider what they can do to support this right.

There is a Resource Pack outlining some current challenges, with some suggestions for prayer for churches and other religious groups. There is a call which can be sent to Members of Parliament to support proposals to protect religious freedom, especially through laws prohibiting religious discrimination. Church leaders can also email for further resources.

I think this is a great resource and encourage all those who read this blog to support it and share it with others!

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Protection of Religious Freedom through Discrimination Balancing Clauses

I am presenting a paper on this topic at the Freedom for Faith “Freedom17” conference in Canberra on Wednesday June 14. The paper is available here: Protecting Religious Freedom in Australia Through Legislative Balancing Clauses. It aims to review all the relevant clauses in discrimination laws in Australia (Commonwealth, State and Territories) which balance religious freedom with the right not to be discriminated against. (If I have missed any, please feel free to let me know!) It also reviews the relevant balancing clauses which were proposed in the Exposure Draft Bill released by the Federal Government last year as an example of how same sex marriage might be recognised. Finally, it explores circumstances in which some of the State and Territory discrimination laws might be invalid, where they provide narrower religious freedom protection than the Commonwealth law does.

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Some upcoming Law & Religion events

A short post plugging some forthcoming Law & Religion events here in Australia which look to be excellent.

Last year I was honoured to help host the Freedom for Faith 2015 conference. This year there are two conferences sponsored by this excellent organisation, both of which look terrific. “Freedom for Faith”, to quote their website, is “a Christian legal think tank that exists to see religious freedom protected and promised in Australia.”

The first one-day conference, on Friday August 12 in Sydney, is aimed particularly at Christian leaders. Speakers include Dr Michael Ovey (Oak Hill College London), Professor Iain Benson (Notre Dame Law School), Rev Kanishka Raffel (Anglican Dean of Sydney), Dr Megan Best – ethicist, Dr Sam Chan – Evangelist City Bible Forum, Archbishop Julian Porteous – Catholic Archbishop of Hobart, Lyle Shelton – Australian Christian Lobby & more.

The second, on Friday September 23 in Melbourne, features a range of academics and other policy makers.  The theme for this one is ‘Religious freedom in an age of equality’. The keynote speaker is Father Frank Brennan. Other speakers include: Anne Robinson (Founding Partner ProLegis Sydney), Prof. Iain Benson (Notre Dame Law School Sydney), Mark Sneddon (Melbourne Bar), Prof. Patrick Parkinson (Sydney University Law School), Asssociate Prof. Patrick Quirk (Australian Catholic University Law School).

As I say, both look to be great events and would be good value for anyone interested in Law and Religion issues in Australia.

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Religious Freedom in a Multicultural World conference, 25 Sep 2015

I am jointly organising a one-day conference co-sponsored by Freedom for Faith at Newcastle University on Friday 25 September 2015. All the details can now be found at the conference website:  http://www.newcastle.edu.au/freedomforfaith . The day will bring together speakers from a range of areas of public life to discuss the important issues of religious freedom, including:

  • Tim Wilson, Australian Human Rights Commissioner,
  • The Right Rev Dr Peter Jensen, General Secretary of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans,former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney;
  • Dr Paul Taylor, International Law Advisor and Barrister;
  • Dr Renae Barker, UWA School of Law and Honorary Research Fellow, Centre for Muslim States and Societies;
  • Dr Greg Walsh, from the University of Notre Dame Australia; and
  • myself!

There is also a flyer here which you should feel free to download and distribute as widely as possible! I hope that some of the readers of this blog may be able to join us on the day!

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