An amendment passed by the Victorian Government on 3 December 2021 to help ensure equality for the LGBTQIA+ community in Victoria came into effect this week.
The Equal Opportunity (Religious Exceptions) Amendment Act 2021 is being enforced as of Tuesday 14 June.
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said these laws have been a long time coming and it’s been a painful journey for our LGBTIQ+ community to achieve these changes.
“I hope today is a day they can be proud of, No one should have to hide who they love to do the job they love – from today, Victorians don’t have to,” she said.
“These reforms respect the independence of religious bodies while reducing critical gaps in protections against discrimination.”
Religious organisations and schools will no longer be able to sack or refuse to hire people based on protected attributes such as sexuality, gender identity or marital status.
Religious organisations and schools will only be able to make employment decisions based on an employee’s religious beliefs where these are inherent to the job such as a religious studies teacher, and the discrimination is reasonable and proportionate in the circumstances.
Minister for Equality Martin Foley said equality is not negotiable in Victoria.
“These changes show how important it is to continue backing the rights of the LGBTIQ+ community in all aspects of life,” he said.
The Bill recognises the rights of religious organisations and schools to continue to practice their faith, provide religious teaching and instil their religious ethos within their organisation. The legislation will not impact how religious bodies can select priests, ministers, religious leaders or their members.
LGBTIQ+ groups, education peak bodies, faith leaders and faith-based groups were consulted in drafting the legislation to ensure the Act meets the needs of communities, respects the independence of religious bodies and strike a fair balance, with further provisions of the Act to commence in December 2022. These future provisions include ensuring that religious organisations that receive government funding to provide services will not be able to refuse to provide them to people based on protected attributes.
