“The bill will certainly allow religious schools to employ people of their own faiths,” Mr Tudge told Sky News on Wednesday.
“Now this is a critical principle at stake here... you can’t be a Catholic school if you can’t employ Catholic teachers. You can’t be a Muslim school without employing Muslim teachers.”
He said the bill would override state legislation “where required”,saying this ability was “under threat” in Victoria where the state government has announced plans to pass laws to prohibit religious schools from sacking or refusing to employ teachers because of their sexuality or gender identity.
National Catholic Education Commission executive director Jacinta Collins,a former Labor Senator,urged the federal government to finalise the legislation as soon as possible,saying the employment rights of religious schools risked being eroded by Victoria’s proposed reforms to the state’sEqual Opportunity Act.
“We are keen to see provisions in the legislation that allow religious schools to require employees to act in their roles in ways that uphold the ethos and values of that faith,” Ms Collins said.
Adding to the confusion,when asked what would happen if a Catholic school rejected a teacher because they were gay,Mr Tudge said:“that wouldn’t be lawful under our bill” – prompting LGBTQI advocacy group Equality Australia to condemn his remarks as “misleading”.
The final version of the bill has not yet been seen by the Coalition party room,but government sources,speaking on the condition of anonymity,said there would be no changes that displaced a special exemption in the federalSex Discrimination Act that makes it lawful for religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQI staff and students,including by sacking or expelling them.