IEU leads fight against discrimination in religious schools

The IEU is fighting hard on two fronts to protect teachers from discrimination in religious schools.

In Victoria, the predicted backlash to anti-discrimination laws proposed by the Andrews government began, with open letters opposing the amendments printed in newspapers and letters sent to families with students attending Catholic schools.

IEU General Secretary Deb James led the fight to preserve the long overdue changes, telling The Age she would be very disappointed to see a “scare campaign against standards that had applied for decades in most other workplaces”.

Meanwhile the Herald Sun reported that the federal government’s draft religious discrimination law, introduced to parliament next week, will “supersede” and “override” the Victorian government’s legal changes, enabling religious schools to “discriminate in favour of staff who share their faith”.

IEUA Assistant Federal Secretary, Anthony Odgers, told The Guardian if the reports were correct “it would scrub the Victorian legislation in its entirety, it would ride right over the top of it.”

The Victorian legislation, now before parliament, seeks to reform religious exemptions to prevent schools discriminating against students and teachers based on personal characteristics.

If passed, that bill would mean schools could only discriminate where “religious belief is an inherent requirement of the job”, meaning it could be a requirement for a school principal but not a maths teacher or cleaner.

Deb James says, “Faith-based schools will still be able to expect teachers to teach according to the values of the school. They will still be able to hire religious educators who subscribe to the faith of the school.

The Age reports on discrimination law changes.

“What this legislation does ensure is that a science teacher, a cleaner, a lab tech or an integration aide who is divorced, gay or an unmarried parent cannot legally be discriminated against in their workplace.”

The letter sent to 337 Catholic schools opposing the changes was provided by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools.

Earlier, leaders from 19 religious communities issued an open letter claiming the amendments would “affect religious freedom and the independence, integrity and ethos” of Catholic schools.

The Herald Sun reported Padua College, a Catholic school in Mornington, asked parents to contact MPs to tell them the state bill is an “attack on religious freedom and will weaken the values of Catholic schools”.

It reported that Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge was accusing the state government of trying to “undermine Catholic and other religious schools”.

Deb James countered the campaign by saying the proposed law “gets the balance right”.

“What this legislation will do is protect other staff from discrimination. We do not believe for a second that having a maths teacher who is an unmarried parent, or a divorced integration aide, or a receptionist in a same-sex relationship in anyway undermines the faith of a school.”

“We speak to principals every day – and we know that the vast majority do not want the ‘right’ to discriminate against their own staff. They want to lead open, tolerant schools.”

Enactment of the federal government’s draft religious discrimination law would mean religious schools could legally preference job candidates based on their religion.

The Independent Education Union of Australia labelled the bill "fundamentally misconceived".

"Very few schools, if any, recruit entirely from the faith base," Anthony Odgers told AAP.

"There simply aren't enough teachers of each and every relevant faith."

He said religion should instead be added to the list of protected attributes in existing anti-discrimination legislation.

The Point reported on the IEU’s discrimination survey in issue three, 2021.

In July 2021, the IEU’s Discrimination Survey received over 1200 responses, many from members who had suffered or witnessed shocking institutionalised intolerance in their schools. The stories and data gathered helped propel the campaign to close a gap in Victorian anti-discrimination laws, with The Age quoting the union’s demands for changes in a series of articles about discrimination in religious schools. 

The survey found that 48 percent of Victorian Catholic secondary education staff had witnessed or been subjected to discrimination in their workplace and confirmed that some Victorian teachers had been sacked by religious schools after coming out (or being outed) as gay. 

For over a decade, the union has campaigned for workers in faith-based schools to have the same rights and protections as other workers.

The legislation addresses schools where both staff and students have been forced to hide aspects of their identify or are made to feel unwelcome, and workplaces that actively discriminate in employment or promotion opportunities. In some cases, this is related to sexual orientation or gender identity – in others, it’s been about de-facto relationships, marital or parental status or faith.  

“Current laws have led some same-sex staff keep their sexuality or marital status a secret amid concerns they will lose their job. Students at some schools have been too scared to be open about their sexuality for fear of being expelled,” the Herald Sun reported.

Victorian Greens LGBTIQA+ spokesperson Sam Hibbins told The Age laws would make “a real and tangible difference to lives of LGBTQ+ Victorians”.

“No one should live in fear of losing their job or being kicked out of school for who they love or how they identify, but that’s exactly what these harmful exemptions are doing.”

The Herald Sun quotes the IEU.