The Morrison Government’s proposed Religious Discrimination Bill presents the greatest threat to LGBT rights in Australia in a generation. These are my main posts on this subject:

What Happens Now for LGBTI Rights?

Written after the May 2019 federal election, including discussion of the strategy we should adopt in anticipation of the challenge of the Religious Discrimination Bill.

What to Expect, and What to Fear, from the Religious Discrimination Bill

Written in August, before the First Exposure Draft Bill was released, including analysis of some of the worst features this legislation could contain (many of which were unfortunately realised).

The Growing List of Problems with the Religious Discrimination Bill(s)

Written after the First Exposure Draft Bills were released, focusing on four major problems:

• Exempting statements of belief from Commonwealth, state and territory anti-discrimination laws
• Making it more difficult for big business to promote diversity and inclusion
• Making it easier for health practitioners to refuse to serve minorities, and
• Making it easier for religious bodies to discriminate against others.

The Religious Discrimination Debate is a Test for the States and Territories

Given the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill explicitly overrides state and territory anti-discrimination laws, those governments have a moral responsibility to speak up on behalf of vulnerable communities in their respective jurisdictions. As of February 2020, only the ACT Government has chosen to explicitly challenge the proposed Bill.

The Internal Contradiction of the Morrison Government’s Religious Discrimination Bill

The Religious Discrimination Bill undermines the rights of women, LGBTI people, people with disability, single parents, divorced people and people in de facto relationships. Significantly, it also permits increased discrimination against people from minority faiths.

The ‘Bad Faith’ Religious Discrimination Bill Must Be Blocked

Written after the release of the Second Exposure Draft Bill, the fact the Morrison Government did not address the major flaws contained in the First Draft (and arguably exacerbated some of those problems, including in relation to statements of belief and religious exceptions), the only responsible course of action is for Labor, the Greens, Centre Alliance and Senator Jacqui Lambie to vote against this legislation.

A Potential Warning to LGBTI Tourists to Australia

If the Religious Discrimination Bill is passed, LGBTI tourists to Australia will need to be issued with warnings about potential discrimination in health care, accommodation, transport, food and entertainment, and other goods and services. Basically, anywhere and everywhere they go.

Coronavirus and the Religious Discrimination Bill

Why COVID-19 provides five major reasons why the Government must abandon the Religious Discrimination Bill, including that it is a distraction from what are – far – more important challenges to deal with, both health and economic.

Why the MUST be a Senate Inquiry into the Religious Discrimination Bill

With the Morrison Government promising to introduce the Religious Discrimination Bill before the end of 2021, new Attorney-General Michaelia Cash is pushing to avoid the usual scrutiny of a Senate Inquiry. This post explains why that’s a terrible idea, and why Parliament must hold its own, independent review.

Why the Religious Discrimination Bill must be rejected (in 1000 words or less)

With the final Religious Discrimination Bill 2021 released at the end of last year, and being considered by two separate Parliamentary Committees over the summer of 2021/22, this post provides a short explainer of the major problems with the legislation, why it must therefore be rejected, and a number of simple steps readers can take to help defeat this divisive law.

5 things we learned from the Senate Hearings into the Religious Discrimination Bill

A look at some of the worst parts of the Senate Hearings into the Bill, including how religious schools plan to circumvent protections for LGBT students, the impact of employees from minority faiths, why the statement of belief provision will provide a platform for transphobia, the insatiable appetite of the religious freedom agenda, and how even Government Senators don’t fully grasp the full dangers of the Bill they are about to vote on, and presumably for.

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