Australian Christian Lobby welcomes Federal Government moves on religious freedom but says proposed reforms don’t go far enough

The Australian Christian Lobby has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement it would move to introduce a Religious Discrimination Act but said more need to be done to protect religious freedom.

Martyn Iles, managing director of the ACL, said in a statement that the “efficacy” of the proposed Religious Discrimination Act would “depend on whether the expression of traditional beliefs about marriage, gender, sexuality and family are explicitly protected.” 

“Because of the nature of religious belief, the act should also ensure compulsion against conscience is considered a detriment and therefore religious discrimination,” he said. “Certain entities should also be protected under the act, like not-for-profits with a religious ethos, including discrimination by governments in the discretionary allocation of funding and other benefits.” 

The government announcement was made Thursday as part of its response to the Ruddock review of religious freedom in Australia.

Iles said that the review’s recommendations – released on Thursday after months of speculation – didn’t go far enough, saying it was disppointing there were “no protections for freedom of speech, conscience, or a positive right to religious freedom”.

“Ruddock is a start, but there is no doubt we have a long way to go to ensure that religious freedom continues to mean something in Australia,” he said.