Religious freedom will be suffocated if ALP elected

These state policies conflict with the belief of most people that humans are either male or female, and that a person cannot biologically change their sex. The policies will certainly conflict with many faith-based schools who for moral and safety reasons will oppose allowing boys who identify as girls into private female spaces.

Labor means Greens

If Labor wins the election, it will not only control the House of Representatives, but will likely have enough support from the Greens, minority parties and independents in the Senate to remove the exemptions for faith-based schools from the Act. In which case, it is likely that the same state governments' policies will be imposed on religious schools.

Last year, Liberal Prime Minister Scott Morrison supported removal of exemptions, but has since backtracked. He has palmed off the issue to the Australian Law Reform Commission to report after the election.

Questions that need to be asked

Critics have asked, what about the rights of students to privacy in toilets, showers and change rooms? What about the right of girls to fair play in sports?

What about the rights of parents to expect a high-level duty of care for their children and of their "prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children", as recognised in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? What about the liberty of parents "to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions", as recognised in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights?

What about threats to the future employment of teachers and principals who refuse to comply with such policies?

What about the right of students, parents and teachers in faith-based schools to hold and manifest their belief, whether founded in biological science or in religious scriptures, that humans are immutably male or female?

What about the right of schools to maintain their religious ethos by refusing employment and enrolment to activists wanting to impose such policies on the school?

There has been little public debate over the wide-ranging consequences of removing exemptions for faith based schools in the Sex Discrimination Act, yet those changes are undermining Australia's tolerant democracy and pose a serious threat to freedom of religion, belief and speech.