The Ruddock Review into Religious Freedom have released the first batch of submissions form the public regarding the issue of religious freedom in Australia.
The panel has received over 16,000 submissions and late on Thursday released the first 1,930. The remaining submissions will be published in May.
During the parliamentary debate over same sex marriage legislation in 2017 the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull agreed to hold a review into religious freedom in Australia, a move which was widely seen as an attempt to placate the more right wing members of his party.
The first batch of submissions released show that religious groups have successfully coordinated a campaign to ensure a high level of submissions to the panel. The panel has grouped together several batches of submissions because their text was identical or similar.
One batch said they wanted to highlight the link between religious freedom and the “unprecedented success of the homosexual lobby over recent decades in not only passing legislation to legalise homosexual acts, but also to force acceptance of this sin on the rest of the population.”
Raising concern that religious business owners could be targeted by anti-discrimination laws the group calls for the government to appoint a minister specially responsible for religious freedom.
Another submission argues the recent legislation in Victoria that outlaws reparative therapies for homosexuality is limiting religious beliefs.
“The Health Complaints Act 2016 now makes it all but impossible to offer help to those struggling with unwanted temptation to commit homosexual sin. There can be no doubt about the intent of this legislation, because the Victorian Health Minister, Jill Hennessy, in her speech introducing the Bill said that it would eliminate the “abhorrent” counselling for individuals seeking help for unwanted same-sex attraction.
“Again, this denies freedom of religion to counsellors, who are now threatened with stiff penalties if they even attempt to acknowledge and act upon clear biblical teaching that homosexual acts are sinful and damaging to those who practise them.” reads the submission sent in by 48 people.
Other submissions argue that there needs to be greater protection for schools to be permitted to dismiss teachers whose personal lives do not correspond with the teachings of churches, and call for greater protections for business owners who want to turn away customers who are holding same-sex wedding ceremonies.
Many of the submissions highlight a concern about the content of educational curriculum and argue that parents must have the right to remove their child from any class that has content that does not match their religious beliefs.
While there are some submissions that advocate that there are already sufficient protections for religious freedom in Australian law, the large majority call for greater protections.
Many submissions highlight that nearly 40% of Australians voted against marriage equality and call for legislation that allows them to continue to advocate for marriage as only being between a man and a woman.
One submission calls for all mentions of sexuality to be banned from the primary school curriculum and a new provision that would see any teachers mentioning sexuality being fired without the right of appeal. While another warns that a lack of religious conviction will see Australia adopt a ‘Mad Max” culture.
The review will release its final report on 18th May 2018.
