The Victorian Labor Government has expanded the twice-weekly rapid antigen testing to children aged 3 to 5 at childcare centres as news comes of possible ceasing RATs after the first four weeks of the school term. The Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews announced that more than 1.6 million RATs will be delivered to childhood settings in…
Vic Rapid Antigen Testing Expanded to 3 to 5 Year Olds
Balancing Rights and Freedom, Secular and Traditional Values
Commentary Declared a fundamental human right in international treaties to which Australia is a signatory, the exercise of the right to religious freedom has nonetheless been sorely tested in recent days. The controversy was provoked by Citipointe Christian College, a Brisbane-based independent school within the Christian Outreach Centre Movement when it asked parents of pupils…
Australian Christian School Revokes Statement on Gender, Sexuality Amid Heightened Pressure
An Australian Christian school has withdrawn its contract containing a declaration of faith on gender and sexuality amid two government probes and fierce criticism from the community and politicians, including the prime minister. Citipointe Christian College, in Brisbane, had sent a contract to parents last Friday which stated “the college will only enrol the student…
Religious Bill Sparks More Debate
The Australian Christian Lobby has stated that they will withdraw their support for the religious discrimination bill if a clause allowing religious schools to discriminate against same-sex attracted and gender-diverse students is withdrawn. The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee is hearing from religious groups, legal experts, and education representatives on Thursday as part of…
Unions Criticize Religious Bill’s ‘Statement of Belief’ For Increasing Stress and Discrimination to Workforce
A representative of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has attacked the government over its timing of the religious discrimination bill arguing that “if we were going to have a debate about a divisive bill, it could not have come at a worse moment.” Liam O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of the ACTU, argued that the Australian Coalition…
‘Religious Organisation Should Hire to Ethos’ Argues Archbishop
In the second Religious Discrimination Bill meeting on Jan. 13, Melbourne Archbishop Peter Comensoli stated that he would not put forward any amendments and expressed that this act will finally protect all different groups of discrimination following disability, LGBTIQ and aged groups. At the meeting, Comensoli expressed that religious schools should be allowed the right…
Fear That Protecting Religious Freedom Would Lead to Abuse Is ‘Wrong’: Expert
An expert on religion has rejected claims that the Australian government’s religious discrimination bill would lead to a “torrent of abuse,” saying instead that the concerns of its opponents were rather about drumming up fear and the result of cultural bias against religion. The comments come after LGBTQIA+ groups, business groups, and a number of…
Vocal Minority Should Not Spell the End of Enshrining Religious Freedom: Expert
Religious freedom is worth protecting even when there is a “loud segment of society” who are against any protections for people of faith, said an expert on religion. Denise Dragovic, a scholar in the field of religion and society and a fellow at the University of Melbourne, told The Epoch Times that if the yardstick…
Religious Discrimination Bill: A Cure Worse Than the Disease for Australians of Faith
The danger of the Australian government’s new religious discrimination bill is that in adding more laws on top of bad laws, Australians of faith could find it is a cure that is worse than the disease. New laws introduced into the federal parliament by the Morrison government on Thursday have been branded an attempt to…
Secularism Maybe the New Religion in Australia
Commentary In the last sitting weeks of the Australian Parliament, the political landscape focuses on the Religious Discrimination Bill introduced by the Attorney-General, Senator Michaelia Cash. The adoption of a law to protect freedom of religion was an election pledge of Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the 2019 election. However, the proposed Bill, initially promoted…
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